


| Behind his smile | Hermitcraft Hero AU |

by thathermitweirdo



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game), Youtubers
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Blood and Gore, Deception, Descent into Madness, Emotional Manipulation, Hermit, Hermitcraft - Freeform, Hero AU, Human Experimentation, Insanity, Kidnapping, Madness, Manipulation, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Superheroes, Supervillains, Torture, Violence, War, mcyt - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:35:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27383554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thathermitweirdo/pseuds/thathermitweirdo
Summary: | This is a Hermitcraft Hero AU. I will not be discussing the roles of characters, as I would like the reveals to be surprising. Enjoy. |"How can we help you if you don't want to be helped?"Their voice was cold, like a dagger had just stabbed his back, the male keeping his broken gaze to the floor. Never before has his shoes been so interesting, the only thing he could look at. The ways they wanted to 'help him' were painful, he couldn't bare to try, despite deep down wanting help for all the pain he felt.He just wanted to end it.He just wanted to end them.He just wanted to protect her.And yet, it was all gone.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 78





	1. Welcome Home.

_"How can we help you if you don't want to be helped?"_  
  
  


_Their voice was cold, like a dagger had just stabbed his back, the male keeping his broken gaze to the floor. Never before has his shoes been so interesting, the only thing he could look at. The ways they wanted to 'help him' were painful, he couldn't bare to try, despite deep down wanting help for all the pain he felt._  
  
  


_The government agent scoffed when they didn't get a response, moving out of the containment cell and nodding at the two guards who stood at the entrance, holding two metal staffs with claws on the end. The two entered the room, the tall male didn't flinch as the claws grabbed his arms, the metal piercing his skin._  
  
  


_The man looked up at the agent, his saddened eyes hurt and broken, 'there was no use in fighting when you knew you could never win', is what they told him, the scientists and researchers, that is. It had been years since he had left the lab, and the male started to believe there was no hope of escape._  
  


_"There there, you know I'm only doing what's best for you. You remember what happened to_ _ her,  _ _don't you?"_  
  


_"I-I would rather you not bring it up..." he finally spoke, his voice quivering weakly, claws holding tight to the man's arms, he could barely move his limbs._  
  
  


_"I have to bring it up, to remind you of what you did." They said, noticing a slight twitch in the captive male's eye, scientists on the other side of the one-way glass beginning to scribble on their clipboards._  
  
  


_"What? Are you not over Her?"_  
  


_"She didn't deserve to be dragged into_ _ my  _ _mess. She was innocent, and yet you took away everything she had." The male spat, his eyes pale and glassed over, his stare is one of a man who was broken down over time, now on the edge of breaking down._  
  


_"Vicky deserved everything that came her way."_  
  


_"Don't say her name!" The man screamed, his head suddenly lifting up so he could make eye contact with the government agent, who's cold glare was now hidden behind blackened shades, his sunglasses gleaming in the industrial lighting._  
  


_"Fine. But I think we've had enough chitchat for now," He turned his attention to the guards, watching as the two plugged the metal staffs into the walls, an electric pulse shooting through the metal. The man didn't even react to electricity that shot through his body, he was used to the pain now, practically immune._  
  
  


_"It's your fault she's dead, you know." The agent said right before he left, the trapped male's eyes suddenly going wide, anger and pain jolting through his mind, a rush of adrenaline coursing through his blood. He stood up, breaking through the claws and metal that used to hold him captive, red electricity shooting off his body._  
  
  


_"You never should have mentioned her name." The man growled, grabbing the government agent by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close and locking eyes with him, the man terrified at their experiment's strength._  
  


_"_ _ Mistakes like you deserve to be corrected. _ _" He said, as electricity got up his arms and onto the agent's body, the man screaming and twitching, before he fell to the ground, going silent._  
  


_The experiment gasped for breath, he hadn't used his artificial abilities in so long, exhausted at the large amount of electricity he had just used. The man suddenly heard sirens crying out, the lights above him flashing red._  
  


_He needed to run._  
  


_He needed to hide._  
  


_He needed Revenge._  
  


_But he needed revenge for Vicky, as well._  
  
  


_—_  
  


"We hope you enjoy your stay!" The woman said happily, dropping the keys to an apartment into the palm of a small male's hands, the man in the red sweater grinning as he thanked her, pulling his luggage towards the elevator to try and find his new home.  
  


There was a man waiting for him, wearing a purple hoodie and glasses, his ruffled brown hair hidden by his hood that he seemed to always have on. He smiled as he spotted the small male in the red sweater, waving to him.  
  
  


"Grian! Glad you made it!" He said with a grin, Grian returning the smile.  
  


"Thanks for inviting me to move here, Xisuma. You've made this place sound incredible."  
  


"Well, Hermitropolis is pretty great.." he chuckled to himself, taking a couple of Grian's suitcases and pressing the elevator button, the two entering the metal box as they continued to discuss the city with one another.  
  


"So which floor are you on?" Xisuma asked, about to hit a button to go to Grian's floor. The small male pulled out his key, room 1209, meaning he was on the twelfth floor.  
  


"Oh hey! You're on me and Mumbo's floor!" Xisuma said happily, Grian smiling in response. Although he didn't know who Mumbo was, the small male was excited to meet them.  
  


—  
  
  


"I'll let you get settled, and I'll bring Mumbo by soon so you can meet him!" Xisuma said while dropping Grian's bags, waving goodbye as he shut the apartment door, leaving Grian in the cold, empty living room. There wasn't much, but there was enough to get him by.  
  
  


They layout was simple enough, living room when you enter, a hall on the left leading to the kitchen, a hall on the right leading to the master bedroom and a spare bathroom, with a balcony connected to the bedroom. Grian dragged his suitcases and bags into his room, exhausted from the 9 hour flight.  
  
  


He moved here after a falling-out with his two best friends, Taurtis and Sam. He just couldn't live with the two for much longer, he needed to move away and start fresh.  
  
  


Grian began to put his clothes away in the dresser drawers, he wanted to distract himself for a while, clear his head. He was silent for a while, spending time unpacking and busying himself. He did that until there was a knock at the door, along with arguing coming from the hallway.  
  
  


_"Xisuma I really don't wanna do this!"_

_"Come on Mumbo, he's new here and he's your next door neighbor."_  
  


_"But I'm not good at talking people—"_  
  


The two paused when Grian opened the door, Xisuma smiling and Mumbo freezing up. He was tall, skinny too, wearing a fancy suit and crimson tie. His hair was slicked back and his mustache was neatly trimmed, the man's elegant apparel barely matching his anxious face.  
  
  


"H-h-hi! You're Mumbo! I-I-I mean, I'm Mumbo! A-A-and you're short! O-Oh Wait! I-I didn't mean that in an offense way, I-I was pointing out facts, l-like how your short! Gah I did again! I-" Xisuma put his gloved hand over Mumbo's mouth before he could embarrass himself further, Grian simply struggling to comprehend how fast the anxious male had been speaking.  
  
  


"Uh..well, it's nice to meet you, Mumbo. Could I offer you both some tea?"  
  


"Yes please!" Xisuma said happily, pushing past the sweater-wearing male and quickly finding his way into the kitchen, Mumbo tailing behind his friend anxiously, mumbling a sorry when he passed Grian.  
  
  


Grian entered the kitchen, Xisuma had managed to find a box of tea, and he had already put the water on to boil on the stovetop, he and Mumbo now chatting at the table. When the small male entered the room, Mumbo tried his best to avoid eye contact, too embarrassed to even look at Grian.  
  


"Well Mumbo, why don't you tell Grian a bit about yourself." Xisuma said like a parent, Mumbo's eyes going wide as he was put on the spot.  
  


"W-w-w-well I'm an engineer and a scientist s-s-so.."

"That sounds really cool! I'm an architect!" Grian said with a sweet smile, Xisuma frowning at Mumbo's anxious behavior.  
  


"I'll be back, please excuse me." Xisuma said, heading towards the bathroom. When he was out of sight, Mumbo's smile faded, as he let out a large, annoyed groan, bringing his knees to his chest and hiding his face in his knees.  
  
  


"Why, why, _why_ did Xisuma bring me here..." Mumbo groaned, too nervous to look Grian in the eyes.   
  


"I-I'm Sorry Grian. I'm just....not that good at meeting people.. I like to keep to myself but Xisuma always drags me along with him to parties and such..."  
  
  


"It's alright Mumbo, no need to apologize." Grian said with a cheery voice, the engineer sightly looking up from his embarrassed state.  
  


"I totally get that you aren't good at meeting new people, it's understandable, you don't need to apologize because of it!" He smiled, Mumbo still keeping his eyes glued to his shoes. The engineer slightly smiled back, Grian could tell he was starting to break the ice with Mumbo.  
  
  


"Thanks. That really means a lot."

"Don't mention it."  
  


—  
  
  


Xisuma closed the bathroom door, his happy attitude and expression fading as he locked the door, walking over to the mirror. He took off his glasses, looking himself in the eyes for a couple moments. He couldn't help but see a monster staring back.  
  
  


He pulled out his phone, a few messages from his 'co-workers', but nothing important. He looked down at his gloved, shutting his eyes as he slowly removed the cloth, opening his eyes once more when his skin started to burn.   
  


He quickly pulled the glove back on, the purple scales on his hands singed and burned, and it hurt like hell.  
  


He moved to the wall, leaning against it and breathing heavily as his body recovered. _'It would be much nicer if it was darker in here.'_ Xisuma thought to himself, quickly moving to the light switch and turning it off, his shoulders relaxing as the cold shadows healed his body.  
  
  


He took off his gloves, looking down at the shimmering purple scales on his hands. They _hurt,_ almost like growing pains. He'd had the scales for most of his life, he just preferred to keep them hidden, despite the pain that he felt while doing so.  
  


He couldn't let his scales touch light, they seemed to be made of darkness. It was confused, Xisuma knew that much, but the purple glowing scales weren't all bad. They were beautiful, yet painful, but Xisuma was used to the pain.  
  
  


He put on a smile, putting his gloves back on as he placed his hand on the doorknob, exiting the bathroom like everything was alright.  
  


—  
  
  


Grian waved goodbye to his friends, closing the door as they left his apartment. He was trying to forget the past and focus on the future, which was proving to be difficult.  
  
  


He closed the door to his bedroom, falling atop the soft mattress as the small male tried to relax. His body aches from the fight and the sudden move, but he couldn't do anything besides rest. He pulled the covers over his body, shutting his eyes as he tried to go to sleep.  
  
  


It was the middle of the night when Grian heard a crash, something must have fallen and broken against the ground. Grian glanced at his alarm clock, it was 2:03 am. The small male groaned, pulling himself out of bed to investigate.  
  
  


He opened the door and walked down the hall, flipping on the light as he studied the empty living room. The only thing that seemed strange was the fact that Grian's things littered the floor, someone had carelessly thrown his things around, leaving them on the floor.  
  
  


A window was broken as well, Grian looking out at how the thief got away. There was a fire escape near the window, so they could have used that but Grian didn't see anyone.  
  


He shrugged, pulling the curtains over the broken door. He could get it fixed in the morning, but for now, Grian was worried about what they stole.  
  
  


There were things in his past that he wanted to keep buried, and with whatever they took, they could uncover things about Grian that he wished he could undo.


	2. Experiments.

**Trigger warnings- writing of blood and gore, mentions of human experimentation, testing of small animals, and animal violence**

—

_He rummage through the boxes and suitcases, his hands carefully moving through the luggage. He didn't want to make his presence known, staying silent as he searched through Grian's things. It was early in the morning, but not for him. He barely slept, busying himself with work and research. But this was much more important than work. This would help his cause._

_At the bottom of one of the suitcases was a simple card, the digits of a phone number on it. The name that was formally on the card had been scratched out, presumably by Grian himself. He tucked the business card away in his pocket, it would prove useful later._

_He moved quietly, silent as he searched through the items, before he spotted what he had been searching so diligently for. It was one of Grian's sweaters that he hadn't put away, but that wasn't what intrigued the tall male. He smiled to himself, pulling out a pair of tweezers and carefully extracting a piece of Grian's hair that had gotten caught in-between the soft red cotton on his sweater._

_The male opened a plastic bag, putting the golden strand of hair securely in the containment, sealing the bag and tucking it away for safe keeping. He turned back to the window, planning to exit the same way he entered. The male stepped out of the window and onto the fire escape, shutting the window as softly as he could._

_A small metal orb whizzed by the male's head, the bullet tearing through the window and shattering the glass, the tall figure whipping around and looking across the street, narrowing his eyes at the male who was perched upon a rooftop, a sniper, to be exact._

_"Not this again.." He growled, the man beginning to run up the stairs of the fire escape, his eyes glued to the sniper across the street, who was beginning to reload his weapon, the scope following the running male. He bolted up the rusted metal stairs, making his way to the rooftop. He was making himself a target, he knew that, but this is the best way to escape the cold grips of death._

_He ran across the top of the building, his back to the sniper, the man expecting the sound of gunfire at any moment. The explosive sound came suddenly, the metal bullet ripping through the night sky, the projectile lodging itself in the man's shoulder. He fell to his knees, his hand feeling over the bloody wound, the man wincing at the burning feeling in his shoulder._

_He only had a few moments before the sniper shot once more, the damaged male getting to his knees once more, running to the edge of the building._

_The sniper watched from a distance as the shadowy figure made it the end of the rooftop, no where else to run. Their robotic eye enhanced on the figure, scanning his exhausted posture and blood stained back. The sniper put their finger on the trigger, about to pull it as the man suddenly jumped off the edge, falling of the side of the building._

_The sniper couldn't see if the man really did fall, but it wasn't their job. They pulled out a walki-talki, clicking the button on the side and holding it close to their mouth, speaking into the rectangular box._

_"He jumped off the side of the building. I shot him once in the shoulder, so if he isn't dead, then he's wounded at least." The sniper said, slinging their gun over their shoulder, moving towards the exit of the rooftop as they waited for a response._

_"Did you see his face?" The Walki-talki suddenly said, the sniper hitting the button once more as they spoke up again._

_"No. He was wasn't wearing his mechanical suit, but he was wearing his helmet. I couldn't see past his tinted visor. But it was him, I swear."_

_"Fine, just get back here. There's a high chance he isn't dead, so stay alert."_

  
  


_"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The sniper growled, shoving the rectangular box into their pocket, they didn't care if that sociopath was dead or alive, they just wanted their reward. The sniper moved their hand up to their robotic scope over their eye, taking the machinery off and looking down at the cyan glow coming from the device._

_They powered off the scope, putting the device with the walki-talki, and leaving the rooftop._

_—_

_The man hung from the edge of a windowsill, his fingers digging into the cracked bricks, the man hanging for his dear life. He didn't have enough strength to pull himself up, one of his arms was now completely numb from the strange bullet that had been shot into his shoulder blade._

_He hoped that the sniper was now gone, but he couldn't do much now, the man taking a moment to catch his breath. The glowing lights of the city making the injured man feel like a spotlight was was being shined onto his hanging body, the man slightly paranoid that someone would see him._

_His injured arm suddenly fell limp, his hand letting go of the windowsill and his arm falling to his side. The man panicked, feeling his other hand beginning to slip. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of something that could help him, and yet his mind drew blank._

_'_ Was it really going to end here _?' The man thought to himself, the injured male now glancing around the city in hopes of coming up with an idea. He looked to the sky, small droplets of rain gently falling from the heavens, before the simple rain shower became a downpour, lightning cracking through the sky, shaking the city._

_Lightning._

_Electricity._

_That was how he was going to escape._

_He pressed his feet against the brick wall, holding tight as electricity began to course through his body, the shocking feeling causing his heart-rate to speed up, red sparks flying off the man's body. He focused his energy in his legs, pushing himself off the building while using the extra force that his electrical abilities granted him._

_The man began to parkour through the city, speeding like a bullet with a glowing red trail of electricity close behind. He was barely visible, a red blur as he darted from building to building, his powers allowing him to do this with ease. Energy began to drain from his body, the man could feel his legs weakening._

  
  


_He ricocheted off a stoplight post, rebounding into a dark alley, tumbling as he hit the ground. He slid across the puddles on the floor of the alleyway, his back slamming into the wall. He gasped for breath, the man relaxing his shoulders and shutting his eyes. Everything hurt, his entire body in pain, as the rain dropped onto the side of his helmet, the man laying still in the alleyway._

_He decided it would be best to stay on the ground for a while, his shoulder bleeding and his body exhausted. The man held himself, shaking in the cold puddle that he lay in._

_In the end it would all be worth it._

_In the end he would make sure that those who wronged him get corrected._

—

Xisuma sat in a dark lab, the hooded male pushing his glasses up, the male hunched over scattered documents. He wore a lab coat over his purple hoodie, the long white sleeves rolled up so that they wouldn't hang over his hands and interrupt his work.

The room was secluded, hidden away in an underground facility. Cabinets filled with research and folders, private information that many were banned from looking at. Xisuma scribbled something on a piece of paper, the man recording his observations as he stared at a few beakers before him.

They were glowing colors, the liquid slightly bubbling in their vats. Xisuma lifted one of the beakers up, pouring a small amount of blue liquid into a black liquid, watching as the colors fought one another, before the mixture became a light shade of purple. He smiled before the glass began to shake, his grinning face fading as he dove underneath the desk, as the vial exploded, purple sludge going all over the room.

"Another failed test?" A voice called from the doorway, Xisuma looking to the exit, his eyes going wide as he quickly stumbled to his feet, trying to make himself look presentable.

"S-static charge! I didn't see you there!" Xisuma said meekly, the man holding his shoulder as he trudged into the lab, falling down onto an office chair with a huff. He was soaking wet, his back bloody and stained red.

"Please, call me Static. No need for formal names." The man said with a painful groan, Xisuma quickly rushing over to make sure his boss was alright.

The man wore a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up with dirt and small scratches over his arms, looking as through he scraped them on the ground. His face was hidden away, a dark grey helmet on his head with red details, a dark tinted visor protecting his identity. You could only see his eyes when he used his electrical abilities, as they would brightly glow red.

"What happened, sir?" Xisuma asked, pulling cloth bandages and beginning to wrap the cloth around the bloody wound, Static wincing in pain as he did so.

"I was jumped by that sniper again, except they finally shot me this time.." He said with a chuckle, his voice morphed and changed from the technology in his helmet, allowing his identity to stay a secret.

  
  


"When you're a world-class supervillain, the government will pay anything to try and get you killed." He said, rolling his shoulder a bit when Xisuma had finished bandaging him. He worked through the burning pain, and within minutes it was like he barely noticed.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, how do you do...that?" Xisuma asked, Static looking at him with a tilt of his head, slightly confused at his assistance's question.

"I mean, you were just shot, and now you look like you're barely hurt!"

"I've gone through a lot, Xisuma. I was tested on for most of my life, and I was put through hell and back. A little bullet won't stop me from getting to my end goal."

Xisuma admired his persistence. The villain stood up, stretching for a few moments before he turned to the door, placing a hand on the doorknob, about to leave the lab.

"W-Wait, sir..?" Xisuma said, the supervillain looking back at the scientist, X fiddling with his long sleeves, his eyes glued to the black gloves that covered his scaly hands.

"Have you....found anything..? Y-you know, to help....this..?" He showed off his hands, Static pausing for a moment, before he let out a breath, opening the door to the lab, turning his back on Xisuma.

"Xisuma, how long have you been working here for..?"

"About a year, probably longer.."

"Come, let's take a walk together." Static said, gesturing for X to follow him. The scientist nervously followed behind his leader, the two walking through the white halls, the artificial lighting of the underground base slightly flickering as Static walked through the corridor.

  
  


"Where are we going, sir?"

"My lab. Normally I keep it off-limits, but I feel as though this is important." Static said, turning to a wall and placing a hand on a hidden scanner, a secret passageway opening up, Xisuma and Static going through the dark hall. Their footsteps echoed off the metal flooring, the dark corridor causing Xisuma's hair to stand on end.

The metal walls were replaced with glass barriers, seemingly containment cells for creatures of some kind. Xisuma glances at a few of the cells, spotting mutants and human experiments.

One looked relatively normal, a man in a lab coat, cold blue eyes with a glare like daggers, the man stroking his beard. When Xisuma made eye contact with him, he narrowed his eyes, a small pair of blue wings opening, his eyes beginning to glow white. The wings seemed transparent, slightly ripped and torn, but beautiful in their own way.

The next person he saw was a girl, her skin incredibly pale, with stitches across her body and face. She twirled a piece of her orange hair around her finger, her eyes lazily studying the unfamiliar figure known as Xisumavoid.

There was one final person, upon first sighting he seemed human, but Xisuma was incredibly mistaken. His skin was green, half of his body was robotic, his crimson mechanical eye glowing in the darkness of his cell. He wore a tattered lab coat, and the more Xisuma thought about it, all the figures he had seen wore those protective white coats.

"Who are these people..?" Xisuma asked cautiously, following close behind Static, slightly horrified at these creatures. The villain leader laughed a bit, his hands held behind his back as he walked into a much more open room, filled with all kinds of research and serums.

"Those are my assistances," Static said, taking a seat at a desk which was covered in documents and scattered notes, the villain searching through the information in search of a certain document that he needed. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

"W-well if you don't mind me asking..what happened to them?" Xisuma questioned, Static continuing to search through his notes, the villain barely even looking up as he continued to explain.

"The world, that's what happened to them. They were hurt, killed, destroyed. But with my research, I gave them another chance.." he said, grinning as he explained his lifelong work.

"So you experimented on them...?"

"That is correct, I gave them strength and power, Xisuma. I gave them a chance to help correct past mistakes."

"Mistakes..?"

  
  


"Perfection is something hard to achieve," Static said, rising from his chair and lifting up a few papers, sorting through the documents in his hands. "Human error is a dangerous problem. People make mistakes, they hurt one another, and they cause for the world to suffer. I want to make sure no one suffers due to the error of a human being."

"But s-sir, that's impossible..People make mistakes and they learn from it! You can't erase that factor from someone-"

"That is enough, Xisumavoid." Static growled, his voice dark, the villain narrowing his glowing eyes at the scientist. "You work for me, while I try to discover a cure to your corruption. You do not question my plans, nor do you attempt to change my mind. My work is none of your concern, unless I purposefully ask you to assist me. Is this clear?"

When Xisuma didn't respond, Static let out a breath, grabbing his arm and pulling the scientist out of the lab, down the hallway of human experiments and out of the secret corridor. Static pushed X out of the room, handing him a few documents that the supervillain had been searching for in the lab.

"There's a bit more research that I uncovered about your ongoing corruption. Do not come back to my private lab unless there is an emergency. I will continue to search for a cure, but you will respect my privacy and my plans, meaning you are no longer welcome in my laboratory."

Before Xisuma could say anything, the hidden door was slammed shut, the barrier sealing and acting as if there was never a hidden room to begin with. The scientist let out a heavy sigh, moving back towards his lab.

If he had a choice, Xisuma wouldn't be working with a supervillain that was being hunted down by the government. But the man didn't have a say in this, it was all worth it to get a cure.  
  


If he helped Static, then Static would help him. It was a risk that Xisuma was going to take, as it seemed like the only way to stop the pain that he felt.

—

Static pulled out the business card and the small plastic bag, setting them down on the countertop of his lab. He pulled out a pair of tweezers, gently extracting the golden strand of hair, trying not to mix his own DNA with the sample of Grian's that he had collected. He gently placed the sample onto a circular metal pad, the villain putting a glass covering over the strand of hair, before clicking the button on the pad.

A green scan moved up and down the inside of the glass case, as the scan studied Grian's DNA, Static opening his laptop and watching as the data flooded into his device. After a couple more seconds, the scan finished, and all the data that the villain needed had been uploaded onto his computer. He removed the glass protection, using his tweezers to pick up the hair once more, placing it into a small Petri dish.

He sat in the darkness, hunched over his work, Static pulling out a few vials and beginning to conduct his experiments. With the scan of the DNA which he now possessed, he could now run experiments without needing a physical piece of Grian's DNA.

He reached for a bubbling vial, the white liquid causing steam to rise out of the glass. Static carefully moved the glass towards the Petri dish, adding a small droplet of the substance into the sample of Grian's hair. The liquid seemed to sink into the strand of his hair, the strand slowly losing its hue, the former golden strand of hair now a glowing shade of silver.

Static arose from his seat, opening a desk drawer and pulling out a syringe, sticking the needle into the white liquid and filling the hypodermic with the strange substance. He moved to a small cage, opening the enclosure and looking down at the two mice that ran around carelessly. He lifted one of the mice in his hands, gently stroking it's soft fur.

"Hello my dear," he said softly, the mouse's nose twitching as Static's calm voice spoke. "How would you like a little reward?"

Static set the mouse on the countertop, pulling out a small strawberry, the villain sticking needle the into the fruit and ejecting the serum, before setting it next to the rodent, watching as the small creature began to enjoy its treat. The villain used his finger to gently stroke the mouse, his eyes glued to his little experiment.

The color began to fade from the rodent's fur, the small animal's coat of fur becoming a glimmering silver. It's eyes were empty, only a vague outline of the iris, which was a simple light blue ring in the creature's eyes. Static smile was soft, his elbow resting on the countertop, with his chin resting on the palm of his hand.

The villain pointed towards the other mouse in the cage, the silver creature peeking up, it's empty and soulless eyes studying the grey rat that was burrowing in the bedding of the cage. The silver creature moved swiftly, running into the cage with great speed, it's eyes focused solely on the other creature.

The silver mouse pounced, the small creature digging its claws into the back of the grey rat. The experiment opened its mouth, its razor-sharp jagged teeth seeming to extend slightly, before the mouse bit into the grey rat's neck, ripping a piece of its bloody flesh from its body. The grey rat fell onto the bedding of the cage, while the silver mouse continued to circle the dying creature.

Once more, the carnivorous mouse attacked, pouncing on the stomach of the grey rat. It's claws extended, the experimental creature digging through the skin, it's teeth and claws working in harmony as the silver mouse tore through the flesh of the dead mouse. Blood splattered across the cell, as the silver experiment tore carelessly through the organs and flesh, the creature's thirst for blood blinding it's sense of moral.

The mouse dug it's teeth into the corpse of the grey rodent, tearing off its left ear and mangling the dead creature's face, what remains of the creature was a pile of bloody flesh and grey fuzz. Static whistled, the killer rodent looking up from the disfigured body. The silver rat trotted out of the cage, the villain offering his hand for the creature to climb onto.

"Oh my, you're quite the creation of mine, aren't you?" Static cooed to his experiment, using his finger to stroke the side of the silver mouse's face. The villain set the mouse down, moving to a cooler that was safely kept inside of a cabinet. He opened the cooler full of ice, using a pair of metal tongs to pull out a small piece of raw meat, placing it onto a paper towel.

The mouse happily trotted towards the piece of flesh, it's pointed teeth sinking through the red meat, the experiment enjoying its meal. Static wrote a few final notes on his document, the villain lifting his silver killing creation into his hands, placing the mouse back in the cell and closing the cage.

Static lifted his notes up off the desk, carefully putting his research into a folder titled " _Project Silver_ ". He opened a cabinet, putting the folder on the shelf, before the villain placed the white serum next to his documents, closing the cabinet and locking the cupboard so that no one could access his work.

Now it was time to begin phase one of Project Silver.


	3. Nervous Habits

**TW: Smoking and mentions of addiction, mentions of panic attacks and implied panic attacks.**

-

Grian walked through the streets, his arms filled with plastic bags that were filled with newly brought groceries. Tucked underneath his arm were a few rolls of paper, blueprints for his next job as an architect. He was struggling to carry all of his supplies, but he could manage for a bit longer, his apartment simply a block away. The smell of smoke was in the air, Grian pausing for a moment, looking down the alleyway where the scent was coming from.

"Mumbo?"

The engineer choked on his cigar, spitting out the roll of tobacco and crushing the still-lit bud underneath his dress shoe. He coughed and choked a cloud of grey, the puff of smoke exiting out of his lungs. Mumbo put on a weak smile, as if he hadn't been smoking moments before. He was clearly anxious, his eyes stressed and his hair filled with knots. Dark rings around his eyes and coffee stains on his suit.

"Gri-Grian! I-I-I uh, didn't see you there." He stuttered with a nervous laugh, tightening his tie to the point where it seemed that it was choking the raven haired male. He was stressed, trying to put on a happy smile to make himself seem approachable, but he clearly wanted to be alone. Grian recognized the pain in his eyes, the engineer nervously glancing around the alleyway, trying not to meet the architect's confused stare.

"Everything alright?" Grian asked the taller male, Mumbo nodding and pulling on his tie, tightening it to the point where it was choking him. He just smiled and nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets and anxiously tapping his foot against the pavement. The silence was awkward, the two incredibly interested in their shoes, neither wanting to meet the other's eyes.

"I-I-I'm trying to quit," Mumbo finally said, moving his hands around his pockets, before pulling out a pack of cigarettes and showing them off, his ashamed eyes glued to his shoes. "I-it's just something I do when I'm stressed.."

"It's alright Mumbo, we all have our habits." Grian said with understanding in his voice. He was used to the smell of a freshly lit cigarette, his old roommate used to smoke constantly, with no intention of ever stopping. Mumbo was at least trying to quit, and it was nice he admitted that he had a problem.

  
"D-....do you wanna head back to my place and talk a bit? You seemed stressed, and I can make some tea." Grian questioned reluctantly, Mumbo biting his lip and thinking about it for a couple of moments, before nodding his head ever-so-slightly.

The two turned to walk down the street, walking in silence towards their apartment building.

—

"So what's been going on with you?" Grian asked the stressed male, pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Mumbo, who thanked the shorter male as he did so. The engineer took a sip of the hot liquid, the tea soothing Mumbo's stressed mind.

"Just been busy with work. Haven't caught a break. I've been working almost 24 hours a day, and it's starting to get to me. B-but that's enough about me, I don't wanna worry you with my work. Anything happening with you, G?"

"Yeah actually. A week ago someone broke into my house. They didn't take anything, but they broke my window and went through some of my boxes." Grian admitted, Mumbo raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"That's awful. Are you sure they didn't take anything?"

"Positive. I can't count how many times I checked. I kinda stopped worrying about it when I got back to work, so it hasn't been on my mind lately."

"Alright, well that's good." Mumbo said quietly, the two returning to their awkward silence with their eyes glued to the floor. They were starting to become friends, but the two weren't very close with one another yet, resulting in many awkward interactions.

"So why did you move here?" Mumbo asked, his eyes never leaving the floor, although Grian looked up, slightly dumbfounded at the question.

"W-well Xisuma invited me-"

"Grian, I'm almost certain that you didn't move here simply because X politely asked you." Mumbo snapped his eyes locking with the architect's. His voice had sounded slightly angry, and yet his eyes were filled with curiosity and worry.

"W-well I'd rather not talk about it." Grian finally choked out, Mumbo nodding his head and setting his teacup onto the coffee table, standing and adjusting his tie a bit more, his hands immediately moving into his pockets.

"Sorry to pry. I'll get out of here and back to work." He said with a wave, the raven-haired male turning away and leaving without another word. He closed the door to Grian's apartment, walking down the hall and stopping at a door slightly further down. Mumbo pulled out a key, sticking it into the door and unlocking the barrier.

He stepped into the darkness, flicking the lightswitch on and closing the door behind him, Mumbo dropping his keys on the small table that sat by the exit. He kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his suit coat, Mumbo completely loosening his tie and letting the red necktie dangle carelessly.

Mumbo walked through the living room and into his bedroom, entering the messy area and locking the door behind him, the tall male glancing with sad eyes at the cramped apartment. He stuck his hands in his pockets, pulling out the pack of cigarettes and placing them on his bedside table, the engineer falling with a sigh onto his creaking bed.

His legs hung off the mattress, Mumbo much too tall for the bed. The engineer stared carelessly up at the blank ceiling, his mind wandering as he lay in complete silence. He should have been getting back to work, or he should have at least called in to say that he wouldn't be coming back for the day, but Mumbo didn't budge, his mind jumping from thought to thought at a rapid pace.

He was shocked when his phone suddenly buzzed to life, Mumbo sitting up and glancing at the alarm clock next to his bed. He had been laying there for around two hours, but it only felt like a few moments. The engineer pulled out his phone from his pocket, Mumbo accepting the call and holding his phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Mumbo?" Xisuma voice was on the other line, the engineer rubbing his eyes and trying to sound less dull than he felt.  
  


"Hey, what's up?"

"Just calling to check up on you, it's been a while since I've heard from you. Is everything okay..?"

"Everything is fine." Mumbo growled a bit, quickly hanging up on X without another word. He set his phone down, Mumbo hesitating at the sight of his cigarette pack. He grabbed the box, shoving it into his pocket and getting out of bed, moving to one of the window in his room. He opened the panel, ducking out of his apartment and stepping onto the fire escape, taking a seat on the rusted metal stairs.

Mumbo let out an uneasy sigh, looking out at the cityscape. He was stressed and bothered, annoyed at the things that had been happening. Mumbo pinched the bridge of his nose, slightly cussing underneath his breath. Dark thoughts and repressed memories took a toll on his mind, the engineer struggling to stay calm through the pain.

He mindlessly reached for his pocket, Mumbo pulling out a lighter and his pack of cigarettes. For just for only a few moments, a second at the least, Mumbo simply wanted to think clearly. He just needed some time to himself, some time to reflect on his thoughts.

He lit the cigarette, placing it between his lips and bringing the lighter to the end of the finely cut roll of tobacco, hesitating for a brief moment. Mumbo debated if it was the best idea before caving in, taking a breath of the smoke. His lungs burned, a puff of smoke slipping between Mumbo's lips, his lungs tightening a bit.

The smell of smoke carried through the air, sticking to Mumbo's clothes which were now stained with the dark smell of burning tobacco. The nicotine rush made his head hazy and calm, a feeling that Mumbo had almost forgotten after the past few weeks. The anxious male relaxed his shoulders, his cluttered mind suddenly drawing a blank, he didn't have anything to worry about in these calm moments.

Mumbo could hear his phone ringing and buzzing, the raven-haired male rolling his eyes and shutting his window, blocking out the sound so he could return to his feeling of peace and comfort. The warm feeling of rough paper between his knuckles was a gentle reminder that he couldn't completely slip away, still responsible for one thing in this peaceful state of mind.

The feeling of smoke in his lungs was warm, a pleasant and relaxing wave crashing over the male. In the back of his mind he had a love/hate relationship with the cigarettes, the dizzy feeling and the burning in his lungs, the coughing and wheezing and the shortness of breath were always hard to work through, but Mumbo didn't care.

He just needed a moment.

A moment of peace.

It didn't really matter.

He could just give it up tomorrow.

—

A psychologist set down their clipboard, taking a seat at the desk that was overflown with research. The scattered papers and messy atmosphere was something he was used to, the man adjusting his box glasses as he scribbled his recorded research onto another document, paying no attention to the shadows dancing on the walls. Their cold voice tugged at his mind, the shadows calling for his return. The man shut his eyes as tight as he could, running his hand through the side of his hair and trying to collect himself, ignoring the approaching footsteps.

A hand was placed on the psychologist's shoulder, the man snapping back to reality with the color draining from his face, the male looking back at who had caught his attention. The hand quickly pulled away from the psychologist, fixing the white silk gloves that protected their hands. The psychologist knew the man, he recognized the villain's helmet that disguised his identity, although the psychologist was confused at his appearance. Normally Static Charge was seen wearing a mechanized suit, and yet he was wearing a bloody white dress shirt, if it was his own blood, the psychologist didn't know.

"Hello ther-"

"S-static.." His voice quivering, the psychologist barely able to choke out anything, glued to his seat as his body shook in fear, the murderous villain simply laughing at his pale expression, pulling out a small dagger that had been bloodied and stained with red. The villain's eyes were stuck on his dagger, his gloved hands running over the red, he didn't seem phased at the sight of blood.

  
"Not surprised you fear me. Fear is such a powerful thing, it can take full control of your mind and body, making the average human make rash decisions. I've always been interested in those sort of things, and I know you are too, Joe Hills."

"H-h-how do you know my nam-"

"I know a lot about you. You're a psychologist who's always buried in your own work, and some of your research has me intrigued. I, myself, am interested in the human mind. And some of your work would be incredibly helpful to me." Static said while placing his hands onto the desk, moving his hands through the papers and studying the research and work.

"This is quite detailed. I'm impressed." The villain said with a smile, looking at the horrified psychologist, who nervously smiled, Joe sheepishly laughing at the comment. Static was grinning ear from ear, his eyes sparking with crimson light as he skimmed through the detailed notes on human behavior.

  
  


"S-so what do you want with my research..?" Joe asked quietly with his voice shaking, Static lifting the papers in his arms and neatly stacking them. The electrical villain looked around the messy desk, his frown deepening as he began to clean up the desk, organizing the clutter that seemed to bother the male.

  
  


"I've always been interested in humans. Their behavior and mistakes. Error is something that is unavoidable, but if I can find a way to fix it, then everything would be perfect. A utopian world where nothing could go wrong."

  
  


"W-why would you want this? Without error how could we learn?"

"I want this because humans are _monsters_. I admit, I, myself, am not perfect. And if I can fix these heartless creatures, then our crumbling world could be returned to its formal glory. I will break the world down and rebuild it _perfectly_." His voice sounded hurt, as if he had trauma from the past that had caused him this struggle with the monsters that we known as humans.

"So w-why do you need my work? W-Why not any other psychologist...? I-I'm not much different from anyone else.." Joe asked with a stutter, Static's mouth slightly twitching with a smile, his eyes glowing red as he looked to the psychologist, fear shooting through his mind.

"Because I know your little secrets, those little things you try to hide about yourself," He smiled, the villain turning his attention back towards the messy desk, straightening the untidy area to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. "The things you cover up will always make their way into the light, so there's no point in trying to hide them."

"W-What are you talking about..?" Joe asked with a nervous laugh, the villain raising his hand, snapping his gloved fingers together, the psychologist watching as red sparks flew off his hands, the lights flickering before shutting off completely.  
  


The cold of the darkness was something Joe had been used to, but never before had it felt so welcoming. His head started to ache, the lightheaded feeling of dizziness starting as the psychologist began to hyperventilate, glancing around the darkness, nothing familiar to him, everything shrouded in shadows. He could see his breath in front of him, Joe's entire world going cold and empty.

His legs buckled, the psychologist falling to his knees. His body was weakly shaking, as Joe fell to the ground, heavily gasping for breath. It felt like a weight was on his chest that stopped him from moving, his limbs heavy and immovable. Joe's eyes struggled to stay awake, his vision blurry and dark, as he looked at the palm of his hand, the shadows and dark energy swirling around his fist. The psychologist gave up fighting the darkness, his hand slamming against the tile floor of the lab, Joe passing out from fatigue.

"Vex, carry him." Static snapped at another figure in the shadows, a man stepping out of the darkness and revealing himself. He was incredibly small, the size of about a humming bird, the man glowing a light shade of blue. Torn wings resided on his back, their light color making them seem almost transparent. The man landed on the ground, his body shapeshifting to his original size, his eyes pure white and glowing.

"I got it.." Vex growled, lifting Joe off the ground and throwing the male over his shoulder, the villain's wings fluttering as he turned back to Static. The electrical criminal had finished organizing the area, pulling the documents that he needed into a folder and tucking it underneath his arm.

"Why do we need him anyway? He's just a stupid psychologist, I thought we just needed the documents." Vex growled impatiently, his wings continuing to flutter in an annoyed manner. He seemed to do that when he was stressed, the magical villain pulling on his white lab coat with such force he almost tore apart of it off.

"Things aren't as they appear, Vex. Take a moment and actually think for once. Why would a psychologist be in a hidden government facility conducting private research?" Static growled, gesturing to the laboratory around him. Vex tilted his head, the villain's glowing white eyes filled with curiosity and questions.

"Nevermind. It's not important to you." The villain said while glancing to the door, looking out in the hall for a brief couple of moments, before turning to the open window in the far corner, Static ready to exit the way he had entered. The villain jumped out the window in a rush, Vex about to follow before something caught his glowing eyes.

There was a filing cabinet that had been tucked away in the corner, a lock on it to ensure no one would attempt to open it. Vex pulled out a glowing blue dagger, cutting the lock off and watching as it dropped to the floor with a light 'thud'. He opened the drawer, confused at the sight of a single thing file, the folder sitting in dust and cobwebs.

He lifted the folder up, blowing off the dust and studying the now-faded ink that had been written on the front of the file. Vex opened the folder, peering in at the singular page of research. It was incomplete, there must have been more that had been destroyed, abandoned maybe. Vex bit his lip, staring down at the ripped blueprint that resided with the document. It wasn't the full plans, but Vex could make out what the invention was supposed to be.

It was a mechanical suit, incredibly advanced and powerful. From what Vex could see, it wasn't meant to be used in battle, but instead as a way to harness energy. It seemed to plug in or attach to something much bigger, but the ends of the blue paper was scorched, it must have been burned and destroyed.

Vex looked back at the sloppy writing on the front of the folder, trying to decode the faded ink, squinting his glowing eyes at the words. He could make out a small portion, but the rest of the scribbled words confused him. Vex grabbed a pen from the desk, tracing over the words to get a clearer sentence of what this folder used to be used for.

**Project: Static Charge**

Vex looked out the window, Static was waiting for him on the nearby rooftop, his back turned and his arms folded, the villain impatiently tapping his foot against the ground. Vex looked back at the folder, tucking it away in his lab coat and moving to leave the lab with Joe over his shoulder.

What Static didn't know couldn't hurt him.

But what Vex didn't know could get him killed.


	4. Overworking.

**TW: Mentions of gore and blood.**

-

"Mumbo? You here?" Xisuma knocked on the engineer's door, frowning at the sound of panicking and running footsteps to make it to the door. The lock jiggled, the door partially opening with Mumbo nervously glancing out into the hallway, locking eyes with Xisuma. His fellow Brit stood in the hallway, confused at the fear and anxiety in Mumbo's saddened eyes. The taller male opened the door slightly more, motioning for X to enter the cluttered apartment.

"Is everything alright? I haven't heard from you in days, Mumbo." Xisuma said with worry, flipping on the light-switch as Mumbo shut and locked the door behind them. The engineer winced in the light, his eyes squinting to try and adjust to the sudden flash of light. Clearly he hadn't turned the light on in a few days.

His apartment, which was normally neat and tidy, was now destroyed, cups of empty or half-drunken coffee on almost every table or surface. Notebooks and scattered papers were almost everywhere, the floor covered in blueprints and work. Xisuma walked around the apartment, glancing at the disorganized area. He almost tripped over Mumbo's toolbox, X stumbling through the cluttered apartment in an attempt to find a place where he wouldn't be standing on important documents.

"M-Mumbo what is all this?" X asked while following the scientist into the kitchen, Mumbo taking the one clean glass from the cupboard and pouring another cup of coffee for himself, spilling the hot liquid onto his already-stained shirt. He wasn't in his normal attire, simply wearing a black tee-shirt and grey sweatpants. All his clothes were dirty and stained, he clearly hasn't left nor changed.

"My work." He said without missing a beat, Mumbo moving out of the kitchen and maneuvering through the messy floor with ease, before taking a seat on the floor and picking up a white pencil, working on a blueprint drawing and acting as if X wasn't even watching him work.

"But I thought you had to go into the office-"

"No I'm...er..working in my 'personal office' now. It lets me clear my head, I'm not distracted anymore."

"Mumbo I haven't heard from you in days, have you done anything besides working? When was the last time you got out of your apartment?" Xisuma asked, taking a seat next to the engineer, Mumbo didn't look up from his work as he continued to write and design.

"Erm. I think it was around a week ago? I was with Grian and we had tea. I think I may have upset him so I left, and then the day after I started to work here to make things easier."

"Have you slept lately?"

"Not that I can recall."

"Have you had anything besides coffee?"

"Not much."

"Mumbo you need to get some rest. This isn't healthy!" Xisuma exclaimed at the engineer, who didn't even seem phased, continuing to sketch and design for work. X frowned, the hooded male forcibly taking the pencil from Mumbo's hands, forcing him to look up from his work.

"Get some sleep, Mumbo."

"But I—"

"Go." Xisuma said sternly, narrowing his eyes at the exhausted male, Mumbo standing up and leaving for his bedroom without another word. He shut his bedroom door behind him, the engineer's back to the door. He let out a sad breath, his back sliding against the locked door until he was sitting on the floor, Mumbo's knees pulled to his chest.

He pulled out his phone, Mumbo staring down at the multiple unread messages from all of his worried friends. Disappearing without a word for about a week had all of them frantically trying to reach Mumbo, who simply ignored them. X was the first person who the engineer actually let into his apartment, he didn't want the others to see the destruction and mess that his apartment had turned into.

Mumbo looked to his window, which was slightly cracked open. He stood up, the engineer moving towards the glass panel and lifting it up, stepping out of his apartment and onto the rusted fire escape. He needed a walk to clear his head, and Mumbo wasn't too worried about anyone seeing him in his dirtied clothing, it was late at night, and the city was dark and calm, a rare sight to say the least.

He walked down the fire escape, his mind wandering as his footsteps echoed against the metal of the fire escape. Mumbo walked until he reached the corroding ladder, the engineer climbing down and jumping onto the sidewalk. The city was dark, an empty fog hanging over the dreary building.

Mumbo moved down the streets, his hands shoved in his pockets as he glanced at the skyscrapers towering above the raven-haired male. The glowing yellow lights coming from the streetlights helped clear the foggy mist that rested over the cityscape. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was going, Mumbo just walked through drowsily through the empty sidewalks.

The engineer walked past the buildings, no destination in mind, his only thought to walk. He felt like he was running away from his problems, just like he had done so many times before. Mumbo had to admit, it didn't feel good. Leaving Xisuma behind just because he wanted to be alone, without even telling his friend? When X found out that Mumbo was missing, he would instantly worry for the safety of the engineer.

Mumbo pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts to find someone to talk to at this late at night. He stopped looking with a sigh, he didn't want to bother anyone. It was a stupid idea to call someone, his friends were probably all asleep, so Mumbo decided to continue to walk around the dark streets to clear his head. 

“Mumbo?” A voice called, the engineer turning around and putting on a tired smile, Grian approaching the exhausted male.

“What are doing out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Mumbo said to the smaller male. Out of everyone he could have ran into, Grian was the one that Mumbo was faced with. The anxious male let out a light sigh, trying not to make his discomfort obvious.

“No one has seen you in days. Your friends are worried about you, dude.”

“My friends?”

“Yeah, they came by since I was the last person to see you. I got to meet them, which was nice. Iskall and Stress, False and Ren, Scar too. Is there a reason you’ve been ignoring them?”

“Yeah. I just needed time to myself.” Mumbo said while tugging on his sweatpants in a nervous manner. After his last encounter with Grian, the engineer was upset that he had pressured the small architect to the point where Grian told him that he didn’t want to talk about. Mumbo felt bad for making Grian feel uncomfortable, and the raven-haired male didn’t want a repeat of what happened.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Mumbo lied.

“Are you sure? You look upset-“

“I-I’m fine, I swear.” Mumbo chuckled to try and sound more lighthearted than he felt. Grian just frowned, but he nodded, and the two said their goodbyes, Grian heading back to the apartment building, while Mumbo tried his hardest to get as far away from his home as he could.

His emotions were all piling up, to the point where the engineer didn’t even know how he felt. Mumbo needed to get away from work and his friends, he had to find a place to escape to so he could have a moment to gather his thoughts together. Mumbo let out a sigh, heading through the foggy darkness in an attempt to get away from the stress and clutter of the world for a few brief moments.

—

" _Sir? Are you here?_ "

"Come in." The villain called from his office, a pale figure with fiery red hair pulled back in a ponytail opening the metal door and stepping in, the girl with stitches across her face and limbs holding a clipboard in her hands, her eyes glued to the paper that she was scribbling on.

"What is it, Cleo? I'm busy." Static said in his monotone voice, sitting in front of a small cage with a white mouse gnawing on a piece of red meat. He used a gloved finger to stroke a creature, his glowing eyes glued to the pale creature with jagged teeth. Cleo set down the clipboard that had papers and reports, the electrical villain raising an eyebrow at the paper. He took his hand out of the cage, picking up the clipboard and flipping through the notes and documents.

"The notes you requested on Xisumavoid's behavior, sir." She said while twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

"There's been a spike recently. When was this?" He asked while standing up, his expression hidden away by the helmet on his head, although it was easy to tell he wasn't too happy with the unmentioned change in X's behavior.

"Only a couple days ago. It was quick but he quickly returned to his normal state."

"Do you have the footage of the event?" Static asked. Cleo nodded her head.

"I'll set it up right away." She said while moving to one of the computers in Static's office. She typed away at the computer's keyboard, hitting enter to submit her command, footage of security tapes pulling up.

Xisuma sat in his office, his desk covered in paperwork and research. His back was facing the camera, so it was hard to see his expression as he worked diligently. From what Static could tell, his hand seemingly cramped, the male dropping his pencil and holding his hand in pain. He pulled his glove off his hands, the black scales on his arm now shimmering purple.

Static raised an eyebrow, watching as Xisuma seemed to be blinded by rage, destroying his work and lab without a care for the hours that he had put into it. His non-gloved hand dragged across one of the metal tables, tearing through all the paper and documents that sat on it, even ripping through the metal tabletop. After a few minutes of Xisuma's destruction, the scientist stopped, seemingly realizing what he was doing.

X dropped his lab coat onto the floor, grabbing his glove and shoving it onto his hand. He put on his hood and rushed out the door.

"He hasn't come back yet," Cleo said as the footage ended. "He destroyed his lab and ran."

"I see.." Static said underneath his breath, pausing to think for a few moments, before he moved out of his lab, Cleo following behind the villain leader. He stopped at the containment cells, placing his hand on a scanner and opening two of the glass barriers and letting two figures out of their prison.

"Doc, Cub, Cleo. Go after Xisumavoid and retrieve him. His ongoing corruption has spiked when he went through an overwhelming emotion. Bring him back here so I'll be able to stabilize and contain corruption."

The three nodded, light blue wings appearing on Cub's back, the human-experiment taking his alternate identity as Vex. Cleo and Doc ran out the door to change into their other identities, although Vex hung back from the group, looking back at the villain leader who stood by one of the locked glass cells.

"What are you still doing here, Vex." Static said as the light-blue hybrid of sorts approached him, Vex looking in at who was in the glass cell. Joe Hills, who they had recently kidnapped a few days ago, lay still on the cold tiled floor, puddles of blood surrounding his body.

"Oh, erm. I was just going to wait for Doc and Cleo to get changed." He said while his eyes were glued to the gory sight of the collapsed body locked away in the darkness to the cell. Static didn't seem to mind, his glowing red eyes glued to the figure in the prison that he had designed.

"Could I ask you something, sir?"

"Make it quick."

"Why are we locked away in these cells? We're normally allowed out so it doesn't make sense why-"

"Vex." Static growled in an annoyed voice, stopping the man from continuing to speak. His wings fluttered nervously as the villain looked to him with eyes that sparked red jolts of electricity.

"You're in there because you're still new experiments. You're unstable for a while, and I have to keep you in there when I feel like you aren't exactly stable or calm."

"R-right." He quickly shut up, Vex looking at his feet to avoid the cold glare of Static.

"Can I ask one more thing..?"

"Go right ahead, it's not like I can stop you."

"I had a life before..right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean before this. Was I always an experiment...? Or was I a person before..?"

"I knew this question would come eventually.." Static grumbled underneath his breath, slightly fed-up with being questioned by his experiments, but the villain simply let out an annoyed sigh, looking away from Vex and back at the bloody corpse laying helpless on the ground of the cold cell.

"Yes. You and the others used to have a life before this."

"So what happened?"

"It was different for all of you. Doc was my first experiment. Half his body was destroyed in a fire, which I replaced with his robotic limbs. In a way he was 'half-dead', barely able to respond to someone calling his own name. I managed to revive that with a few serums and experiments of mine, but it didn't turn out the way I expected, resulting in the green in Doc's skin. Besides that, I was able to completely recover him.

Cleo died due to heart failure, and I decided to conduct a bit of research on her. She came back to life somehow, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around how it happened. In a way she's a zombie, she doesn't have a pulse, nor does she need to breath. She have been revived due to indescribable abilities that she had before her death, but for now it's a mystery."

"And what about me...?" Vex asked in a slightly nervous voice. Static chuckled underneath his breath softly, his normally cold and painful eyes slightly softening for a few moments.

"You used to live with someone. You were roommates with your best friend, if I'm correct. You got in a fight after he figured out about your abilities and you stormed out on him. I found you shortly after and you started to help me."

"But..why don't I remember him? M-my friend?"

"You didn't want to. You came to me with the same abilities you have now, but you wanted more. You wanted to be stronger. And every time we tried to help you become more powerful, you were held back by him. You didn't want to see him again, so I wiped your past life from your mind, at your request."

"And what about the others? Cleo and Doc?" Vex asked quietly, his voice slightly shaking with a weary sigh.

"They didn't like the idea of losing that piece of them, those past memories. But it started to effect them, to the point where it was no longer optional."

"W-What?"

"I think we should stop talking about this now." Static finally said, Vex biting his lip and nodding his head.

"One more question?" Vex asked, although Static didn't answer, his eyes still glued to the bloody figure in the cell.

"What are you going to do to him?" Vex asked while motioning to Joe.

"That's classified information. Now get going, Vex. Hurry and get Xisuma. You've asked enough questions for today." Static said while moving away, heading back to his lab and shutting the metal door behind him, Vex turning away and letting out an annoyed sigh.

He knew he shouldn't think too much about the things he'd been told, Vex heading towards the exit to meet Cleo and Doc. He pushed the thoughts and things he'd been told aside, focusing on the mission ahead.

-

Static sat down at his desk, pulling out a key from his pocket, clenching the metal in the palm of his hand. He looked down at a locked drawer that was attached to his table, the villain sticking his key into the lock and opening the drawer, Static looking up and making sure he was alone before he pulled out a framed photo, setting the picture onto the desk and locking eyes with the girl in the photo.

"Hey.."

"..."

"If you were here, you'd think I'm insane."

"I wish there was something I could do, but there's not much. I can't bring you back. I tried to, t-trust me. It worked with Cleo, but you don't have any of her abilities!"

".."

"I'm sorry, really I am. I'm crazy, I'm insane. I know that. But if I can correct everything, then maybe things won't be as bad as they seem. I'm only doing this because of what happened to me..."

"I just...

I don't want anyone to go through the same thing that happened to me. And if I can fix it, then won't thing get better? People will be happy, won't they?"

"I know if you were here you'd try and stop me. But I need to do this. If I don't then bad things will keep happening, and people will be hurt and destroyed. If I can get this right then everything will get better! Don't you want that?!"

Static took off his helmet, taking a breath of fresh air to clear his mind. He set down his helmet and picked up the picture frame in his hands, Static's thumb running across the glass, caressing the picture frame carefully. Tears rolled down his face, dropping onto the glass frame, the villain putting the photo back into the drawer, looking at the girl's eyes once more.

"I just need you to trust me. I have this all thought out. It'll turn out alright. I swear."

He shut the drawer, locking the photo safely away in the dark container. He placed his elbows on the desk, Static running his hands through his knot-filled hair. He tried to fight the feeling to cry, but it was overwhelming, helpless tears rolling down his face and dropping onto the metal desk.

"It's funny how grief works.." Static laughed to himself, his sorrowful eyes watering and salty tears continuing to roll down his face.

"I thought I was fine! I thought I was past all of this pain! And yet here I am, crying over you again." He looked back down at the drawer, as if he was speaking to the girl in the photo. He paused, staying quiet as more tears fell out of his eyes, the villain unable to control his emotions.

"I'm sorry. I hurt you. But I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. I'll make sure no one else hurts anyone. I'll make everything perfect, just for you."


	5. Kidnapped

Grian knocked on Mumbo's door, waiting patiently in the cramped hallway for the mustached male to open the door. The Architect hadn't seen Mumbo in a while, nor had he seen the engineer leaving his apartment. He wasn't expecting Mumbo to answer, Grian looking up from the ground as the doorknob moved, the door opening and revealing Xisuma standing with rolled up blueprints tucked underneath his arm, his boxed glasses on the bridge of his nose as the male raised an eyebrow at Grian's unexpected visit.

"Looking for Mumbo?" He asked with a half-smile on his face, Grian nodding at his friend. Xisuma opened the door and invited him inside, the architect entering Mumbo's home and noticing the mess that cluttered the normally-neat apartment. Blueprints on any flat surface, spilled coffee along with dirty clothes and dishes on any table or chair, and Xisuma was trying to clean it all.

"What happened? The last time I was here everything was so neat.." 

"I'm not sure, Mumbo just started working from home suddenly, and he hadn't gotten any sleep or left the building in weeks. I just got here an hour ago, and yet it's still a mess." Xisuma explained the story to Grian, the architect still confused on why Mumbo no longer left his home.

"So where is he?"

"Asleep I'm guessing. I told him to get some rest and he's been in his room for as long as I've been cleaning for." Xisuma said while lifting a few more crumpled newspapers off the ground, Grian beginning to help clean up Mumbo's apartment. He and Xisuma picked up all the blueprints and placed them into a neat stack on a coffee table, before picking up all the clothes and moving the dishes into the sink, and cleaning off any spots with coffee spills.

"He just doesn't know how to take care of himself," Xisuma grumbled while using a sponge to roughly clean a dirty plate, his gloved hands gripping tightly to the dish. "Mumbo should know that this isn't healthy, living all alone and never leaving. It's getting on my nerves that I have to start parenting him.."

"Come on, X. He could have a lot of things on his mind. Sometimes you need to be there for your friends." Grian said while scrubbing a dish lightly with a sponge, Xisuma continuing to mumble underneath his while moving away from the dishes and over to the window, opening it so fresh air could enter the cluttered apartment.

"I'm just saying, it would be nice if I didn't have to parent hi-" 

Xisuma was interrupted, a deafening explosion ripping apart the wall and sending rubble and bricks flying across the apartment, Xisuma being thrown back as well. He slammed into the wall, Grian rushing over to check if X was hurt by the sudden blast. 

"Xisuma? Xisuma are you alright?!" Grian asked while holding onto his shoulders, lightly shaking the unconscious male. The side of his head was cut and slightly bleeding down his cheek, but besides that he seemed alright. Grian looked to the crater in the wall, three figures stepping into the apartment while glancing around the destroyed room. 

"Where is he?" A gruff voice questioned while stepping forward, their eyes trailing across the apartment until they spotted Grian holding the unconscious body in his arms.

"Vex, Ragdoll," the male said to the other two figures with a snap of his fingers, a miniature explosion of sorts jumping off his hand as he did so. Grian assumes he was the cause of the explosion that had destroyed Mumbo's apartment.

The one who was seemingly in charge stood in the middle of the other two figures, half of his face had green skin, with pointed ears and a completely black sclera in his one eye. The other side was completely robotic, with his crimson mechanical eye illuminating the metal plates on his face. Other than that he wore a simply black cloak, Grian unable to make out any other details besides the strange mutant's skin and robotic features.

The figure to his left wore a light blue mask with a strange expression painted on it. With torn wings and a glowing sword in hand, the figure tilted its head at Grian. He seemed to have minimal versions of the strange creature that his costume was replicating, the magical pixie-like creatures seeming to obey his every command.

The final figure seemed to be a girl, with silver cuffs on her wrists and a cape to match the color of the bracelets. She seemed to be wearing a slick black jumpsuit, with silver lines resembling stitches all across the upper half of her suit. Her red hair was tied in a braid, with a crown of black and silver roses sitting on her head. Other than that she had a silver bandanna covering her mouth and tied around her neck.

"Hurry and grab Xisuma and let's get out of here." The cyborg said with a growl, the three gripping the weapons in their hands. Grian was paralyzed with fear, holding Xisuma in his arms and staring at the villains with wide eyes. Vex (the creature with strange torn wings,) waved his hand, a faint blue glow surrounding Grian's body and lifting him off the ground. 

The architect was carelessly thrown through the air, unable to move as magic pulsed around his body. Vex chuckled underneath his breath as he threw Grian around the air, as the cyborg and Slain picked up Xisuma's limp body.

"Come on, Vex, quit playing around. Nitro has Xisuma, so let's go." Ragdoll hissed at the magic-user, who let out a bothered sigh, dropping Grian onto the ground and opening his wings, the three villains jumping out the crater in the wall and disappearing without a trace.

Grian looked to where Xisuma had been thrown against the wall, his box glasses cracked and sitting on the rubble. Xisuma was gone, kidnapped and abducted, And he had no idea how or why he was taken.

What could Grian do?

—

The man sat on the rooftop, a sniper slung over his shoulder, as they waiting in the dead of night. The scope on their eye scanned the city that they looked down upon, searching for the target that hadn't been eliminated. They were hired to kill, and they intended to kill, and yet the target hadn't been seen for days, this task was beginning to become a waste of their time.

The sniper pulled out their phone, trying to distract themself for a bit, as the task of waiting for a villain to show up seemed like a waist of time. They let out a yawn, the nights of watching and waiting in the busy city had began to catch up with the sniper, a wave of exhaustion crashing over them. The sniper had to stay awake, the money they could earn from killing that villain would be so useful to them.

"You've been out here for the past few nights, anyone in particular you're looking for?" A hushed voiced whispered behind the sniper, before a curved blade was held to their throat, the weapon glowing red with electrifying sparks jumping off of it.

"Let me guess, Static Charge, the villain I was hired to kill..?" The sniper growled, Static only smiling in response, although the sniper couldn't see the villain's expression from behind his helmet.

"That was easy enough to guess. And you are?" The villain asked calmly, moving the blade closer to threatening the sniper, who held their breath as the sparks jumped off the weapon, slightly burning their throat.

"M-marksmen." The sniper choked, the electrical villain frowning and holding the blade closer to their neck.

"I know that's your code name, the name you use when hunting your targets. But that's not your real name. It's Iskall85, isn't it..?"

"H-how did you-"

"I have my ways. And I'm not here to fight," the villain said as his blade retracted into his metal suit, Static taking a few steps back and allowing Iskall to stumble to their feet, their sniper on the ground. The Swedish hit-man was about to reach to attempt to grasp his gun, before a red bolt of lighting shot out of Static's gloved hand, knocking the weapon out of Iskall's reach.

"I'm only here to talk with you," He said while narrowing his eyes at the defenseless Swede. "Let's discuss this over a drink, shall we?"

Iskall nodded, horrified to deny the request of the villain. They followed the villain off the rooftop, the two walking into the darkness without speaking a word to one another.

—

Iskall was led down a dark alleyway by the villain, the Swede nervously following as they approached the end of the ally. Static rhythmically tapped on a rusting iron door, which cracked open, the villain pushing it open and holding it for Iskall, allowing the sniper to creep into the darkness of the strange place that they had been taken too. 

The sniper followed the stairs down into darkness, they could hear Static's footsteps behind them, but Iskall was too afraid to look back. Rumors had been told about this villain, a brilliant man who could outsmart those who opposed him. He was always a step ahead, and he would mercilessly kill and experiment on innocent people. It was horrifying to think about.

"Here we are." Static said as the staircase led into a large tavern, the dimly lit bar filled with different villains of sorts, even the bar tender was a murderer, Iskall noticed. The villain sat at the bar, Iskall nervously sitting next to him, with the bar tending setting down the glass he was cleaning and moving to greet the familiar villain.

"Static, great to see you again!" The energetic murderer mentioned before shooting an ice-cold glare at the sniper sitting next to him. The bartender leaned in, whispering a question into the villain's ear, Static laughing as the man finished his question.

"They're fine, Ren. Simply a bounty hunter."

"You're lucky your my best customer, I don't allow those greedy dirtbags here.." Ren growled, Iskall recognizing the villain's name. The sniper had seen the murderer somewhere before, but they couldn't remember where. "Anyway, what will you two have?"

"I'm perfectly fine, I simply brought my friend Iskall here to do a bit of business." The villain said while pulling on his gloves, Ren turning to Iskall and raising an eyebrow at the Swede.

"Oh.. I'll take a Swedish Whisky?" They asked, Ren nodding and grabbing a bottle and a glass, beginning to prepare the drink.

"So why did you ask me here?" Iskall questioned Static, the man chuckling a bit.

"I want you on the right side of history. I want you to work for me, not against."

"And why would I do this..?" Iskall asked with an eyebrow raise.

"Because I can pay you double what those government agents are offering. I want to destroy them from the inside out, and you might be the perfect way to do it.."

"You're lying." Iskall blurted out their thoughts, while Static only chuckled underneath his breath, pulling out a large stack of cash. The villain nodded, giving the Swede permission to inspect the cash, where they found that it was completely authentic, not to mention the amount of money that the villain was offering to pay.

"Alright, so do we have a deal?" Static asked, his red eyes glowing from behind his helmet. Iskall chuckled, lifting the glass of whisky that they had been given by the bartender.

"I will drink to that!"


	6. Conflict

"This is the place?" A voice whispered to another, the silence of the night disturbing in a bustling city. The ceiling was tall and shrouded with shadows, and the atmosphere was cold and dreary. An abandoned warehouse, to be exact. Large broken windows allows moonlight to leak into the darkness, revealing debris and broken glass scattered on the ground. It didn't seem like much, and yet four figures stood by the entrance, looking for what was lost.

"This has to be, we've been tracking Static for months, and this is the closest we've gotten to finding his headquarters.." another voice with a slight accent mentioned, the figure stepping into the moonlight and allowing their costume to glow in the lighting. With combat gloves and knee high boots in addition to their single-piece suit, the cold blue and white color scheme of their costume matched their white hair and cold blue eyes that scanned the empty warehouse.

Two other figures stepped out of the shadows, one's costume incredibly colorful and bright, almost mimicking the appearance of a medieval jester, except for the added utility belt and weapons. The other was smaller, a women with short brunette hair. Vines were curled around her arms, with miniature flowers softly blooming on her sleeveless dress.

"I didn't see anyone around the warehouse," a new figure said as they moved faster than the human eye could see, quickly moving beside his fellow heroes and lifting the large goggles off his face and onto his head. 

His outfit was more casual than the other heroes, with large goggles that he pulls over his eyes when he runs. A bandanna was wrapped around his neck and knee pads added to his black pants. His boots were dark and helped the male run in tougher environments, a belt with equipment pouches wrapped around his waist. His gloves were more technical, a small opening allowing for a small grappling hook to shoot out from his mechanical glove. Other than that his appearance seemed normal to help the male blend in with larger crowds.

"Thanks for the update, Velocity." The jester-like hero mumbled under his breath, clearly preoccupied by looking around the warehouse for any signs of life. He took a step forward, the overhead light flashing as it attempted to turn on. The broken lighting in the warehouse flashed on, ominously revealing a figure standing on one of the support beams, with his back leaning against the

"Well isn't this intriguing, I wasn't expecting any visitors," The man called from above the group, causing the heroes to turn their attention towards the villain who stood watching from above. Static was in his mechanical suit, his eyes glowing from behind the tinted visor. He was looking down at his hand, a silver mouse with empty eyes sitting in the palm of his hand.

"Now let's see here," he looked to the heroes, who all stood battle-ready with their weapons in their hands. He took a moment to glance at each of the heroes, examining their costumes and weapons before a small grin curled on his lips. "Let me guess; you must be Velocity, Jangler, Chamomile, and Cryoglare. I'm not sure we've properly met before."

"Yeah, Yeah.. you know who we are, big deal, and you must be Static Charge?" Cryoglare asked sarcastically, although the villain flinched at the mention of his name. 

"It's what I'm known as, I suppose." He said with an empty voice, the mouse in his hand squirming uncomfortably in the palm of the villain's hand. He smiled down at the creature, setting the rodent onto the support beam that he was standing on and letting the creature scurry away.

"Enough talking, let's just fight!" Cryoglare spoke up once more, pressing his gloved hand against the ground and causing the floor shake and crack open, large spikes of ice breaking through the ground and forming an iceberg that continued to enlarge, the icy spikes shooting right towards the villain's chest. The villain simply raised his hand, bolts of electricity jumping out of his hand and countering the ice. The red lightning bolts jumped down the iceberg, the ice shattering as the electricity swarmed around it.

The explosion of the large piece of ice sent Cryoglare flying backwards, his back slamming into the rotting metal of the warehouse wall. Chamomile looked to Jangler, before waving her arm and causing a large plant to rise from the ground. Jangler leaped from the ground, running atop the plant that was headed straight towards Static. The jester-like hero pulled out a few miniature throwing stars, before the hero threw the sharp disks at the villain, leaping off the large plant and safely landing on the ground.

Static wasn't amused, two blades extending out of his mechanical suit's gloves, allowing the villain to easily use his blade to deflect the throwing stars, before the sword turned red, Static slightly moving and tilting his blade to the side, using the electrical blade to cut through the large plant that Chamomile had summoned.

Electricity surrounded the villain's feet, Static pushing off the ground and leaping into the air with a boost of height from the red sparks that surrounded his legs. He landed on the ground, a large wave of electricity shooting out of his body and sending the heroes flying backwards, their bodies paralyzed by the electricity.

"I don't have time to play games with you imbeciles. Stay out of my way, or I won't be as friendly with you next time.." he spat at the paralyzed heroes, the villain turning away and leaving without another word. He disappeared into the night, the darkness allowing the male villain to simply vanish without a trace.

Once he was gone, feeling began to slowly return to the heroes' bodies. Chamomile helped Jangler stand up, his legs slightly wobbling, as the heroes began to regroup after their quick defeat.

"He took us out so easily," Velocity mumbled underneath his breath, the now-cracked goggles on his eyes magnifying his brown eyes, almost making them look like googly eyes, making it hard to take him seriously. "how did he do that?"

"No one has really ever fought him before, it was hard to predict how he would fight." Chamomile tried to comfort the saddened heroes. They had just encountered a villain who rarely shows his face, and they barely even put up a fight, allowing for the villain to easily escape.

"Come on, let's just head back to the base.." Cryoglare mumbled, clearly upset by their loss, as the icy hero stormed out of the warehouse, the three other heroes following behind Cryoglare and fading away into the foggy darkness.

When the heroes began to leave, a small creature poked its head above the rubble where it had been hiding, the mouse that Static had experimented on scurrying across the room. It followed the heroes from the shadows, letting them lead the small creature directly towards their hidden base.

—

Vex was hesitant, staring down at the folder in his hands, the dust-coated file holding all the answers to his questions about Static. He hadn't opened it yet, Vex had only held onto it, scared at the idea of what had been locked away. He took of the mask that covered his face, hesitating as he slowly reached to open the file. Cub's heart jumped to his throat upon hearing the sound of someone entering the containment room. He tucked the file underneath the pillow as footsteps approached his glass cell.

"S-sir." Cub greeted the villain who walked by the cell, Static stopping when he noticed the quiver in the vex's voice. His helmet was on, but he was only wearing a dress shirt, a loosened tie, and his black shoes and pants, not his normal mechanical suit.

"You sound on edge." He pointed out, Cub trying not to show his fear.

"No, just tired," he said quietly, trying to change the subject as he looked over the villain's shoulder and towards the cell across from him.

"So Joe has been unconscious for a while, is he alright?" Cub asked quickly, Static turning his attention to the unconscious psychologist.

"He'll be fine, he just isn't too fond of the idea of joining our cause." Static said casually, leaning his back against the glass that separated the two villains from one another.

"But what is our cause?"

Static went silent upon the question. Once Cub was told that his memories had been erased, questions formed in his mind. He didn't know why he joined Static, or what his abilities could do, Cub had only done what he was told, and now that he knew parts of him were missing, the vex didn't know why he was even working for Static anymore.

"It's nothing of your concern. You work for me, and you don't question what I'm planning, do you understand?" He asked, waiting for Cub to slowly nod before taking a step away from the vex's cell and turning his back on Cub.

"Good. So you captured Xisuma?" Static asked as he changed the subject, although Cub was still asking questions in his mind. He nodded to respond to the unstable villain.

"A few days ago, we locked in in one of the containment cells so that he couldn't escape."

"And no one saw you kidnapping him?" Static asked, flinching when he noticed Cub didn't respond. The villain turned around quickly, slamming his arms on the glass and peering in at the vex, his red eyes radiating with energy and insanity.

"NO ONE SAW YOU, CORRECT?!" 

"T-t-t-there may have been a witness..." Cub mumbled underneath his breath, horrified as the villain sweared underneath his breath in rage, ripping the tie off his neck and squeezing it in his hand. He didn't break eye contact with Cub as sparks flew out of his hands and onto his tie, catching it aflame and causing the accessory to turn into ashes and fade away with the wind.

"WHO?!" He commanded the vex to tell, Cub slightly shaking at the sight of the villain's glowing red eyes.

"I-I-I-I'm not sure. He was with Xisuma when we captured him, I-I think his name was Grian..?" Cub asked in a hesitant voice, Static letting out a bothered sigh as his fingernails dug into the palm of his hand, the villain taking a steady breath to try and keep a calm mind.

"Tomorrow, you bring back that witness. I don't care if you have to travel the world to find them! Just bring them back here, dead or alive." Static commanded harshly, Cub nodding his head in fear. The villain cussed underneath his breath, turning away and storming out of sight, the vex letting out a sigh of relief once he was gone.

He pulled the file from underneath his pillow, holding his breath as he studied the worn out folder. Cub was horrified to know more, to learn about who Static was and why he was forming a team of villains. Sometimes it was best to forget, to burn the things of your past. Cub should know. He may not remember who he was, but the vex had a feeling he didn't want to know.

—

Static slammed the door to his lab, electricity radiating off his body due to the anger that he felt. His team was so careless to see a witness, and yet they did nothing about them. The villain thought he had trained his team better, and yet they didn't cover their tracks properly.

He sat down at his desk with a bothered sigh, taking off his helmet to get a breath of fresh air. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before beginning to pinch it, the villain squeezing his eyes shut as well. Things were slowly beginning to fall apart, the heroes were beginning to catch onto his trail, his team barely understood how to do their jobs, and Static still has to take care of Joe and Xisuma to finalize his plans.

Static opened his eyes, looking at the small business card that was sitting on the desk, the business card that he had stolen from Grian's apartment. He reached for the card, holding it up and reading the blurry numbers. The villain pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, writing down the barely-visible number, a phone number.

He raised an eyebrow, the number wasn't normal. It was from out of the country, the area code didn't match to where they lived. It was probably from where Grian used to live, and hopefully the number would tell Static more about who Grian was. He pulled out a cellphone, dialing the number, and waiting patiently as he waited for the other line to pick up.

There was no greeting once it did, simply silence on both ends of the call for a few moments, before Static cleared his throat, breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry for this call, and if I happen to be interrupting something rather important, but I need to ask a few questions, if that's alright." Static asked politely, leaning back in his chair as he waited for a response.

"Depends. Who's asking, and what are you asking about?" The voice on the other line growled at the villain, Static slightly smirking upon receiving a response from the voice.

"I just need to know a few things about a friend of mine names Grian. I found this business card in his bag with your phone number on it, and I was wondering if you could tell me about him."

"Oh yeah, I know Grian. But before I say anything, I want to know who you are."

"I can't tell you that. I'd prefer to stay anonymous." He said, leaning back in his chair.

“Well then I’m not talking. I need to know who you are and how you know Grian.”

“Listen, I just need to find out more about him, that’s all.” Static growled hastily, the voice chuckling.

“Listen, whatever Grian said about me being a ‘murderer’, he’s just over exaggerating. I bet Grian was the one who put you up to this, am I right?”

“Not exactly. I found your number in one of his bags, and let’s just say I borrowed it. Now, what’s this about you being a murderer?” Static asked, the voice on the other end of the line going quiet for a few moments.

“So Grian really hasn’t mentioned me? He hasn’t said anything about what a terrible person I am?” The male on the phone asked quietly.

“Not that I am aware of. But I am interested as to why he would describe you as a murderer. If you will, tell me more.”

“And why would you want to know more?” The voice spat the question at Static, who chuckled maliciously at the inquiry.

“Because I may have a little task for you.”


	7. The past.

"Mwommy..?"

"Not now." She hushed the child, knocking on the reinforced metal door with a frown planted on her stern face. The mother gripped the child by his wrist, as the young boy looked to the ground while fighting tears. The door automatically opened, and the mother tugged her son into the darkness without letting the rosy-cheeked child take a moment to take a look at his surroundings.

He hid behind his mothers leg, cowering as strangers gave him confusing looks, people with glasses and lab coats and clipboards. They scared the small child, causing the terrified child to look up with a quivering lip at his mother.

"Mw-mwommy..?"

"Not now, Dear." She said as they stopped at the end of the hall. A scientist was waiting at the end of the hall, scribbling notes onto his clipboard and looking up as he noticed the two waiting to be noticed. He smiled at the young child, bending down to become eye level with him.

"Why hello, little one." He said happily at the young boy, who clutched onto his mother's skirt, hiding his face behind her dress. The parent of the child rolled her eyes, pushing him into view of the scientist with her leg, the child's legs slightly shaking. The researcher stood up, beginning to speak with the parent.

"Are you sure you want to do this? He's much younger than we anticipated-"

"Yes. Take him. He's a monstrosity and I cannot fix any more of the problems that he has caused." The mother said without care, her son knowing that she was talking about him, looking to the ground with shame in his sad eyes. The scientist frowned, but he didn't say anything as he bent down to examine the child once more.

"Come on, we have a special room for you. You're going to be staying with us for a little, okay?" The scientist told the child, smiling as he slightly nodded. The scientist took the boy by his hand, waving goodbye to the careless mother, and taking the young child into a room at the end of the hall.

It was a bedroom, filled with children's toys and drawings on the walls, items that the young child was unfamiliar with. He was neglected, the boy had never seen most of the things that was awaiting him in the room.

And yet it wasn't right.

No windows were in the room, cameras hidden in the dark corners, eyes watching the child's every move. The moment the young boy stepped into the room, the metal door quickly shut behind him, leaving the child alone in his new home.

—

He didn't know how much time had passed, the child had been waiting for someone, anyone, to open the large metal door and walk in. And yet, he hadn't seen anyone since he had been locked in this child prison weeks ago. A small hatch would open every now and again, which would have food for the young boy. The lights would turn off, alerting the child that it was time to sleep. Besides that, nothing else seemed to happen, the world at a standstill.

The child looked up with wide and hopeful eyes, the metal door swinging open, with a figure standing in the doorway. He had a messy beard as well as glasses sitting on the edge of his nose, his blue eyes hiding behind the lenses. The man smiled at the abandoned child, who didn't recognize the new scientist. He stepped into the room, the door closing behind the tall male, who bent down to greet the child with a warm smile.

"Hey kiddo. How are you holding up?" He asked with a warm tone, the young boy unresponsive as he held tight to one of the old toys, hiding in the far corner. He was scared, the child didn't know that his mother had abandoned him. He thought he was just waiting for her to come back and take him home. 

"My name is TinFoilChef, but most people call me TFC, what's your name?" He asked, the boy still not responding to TFC. He frowned a bit, looking into the eyes of the terrified child. He was confused, lost, incredibly young to be living in a lab. It hurt to see a child locked up and alone in a room, simply for the purpose of being researched.

"Are you scared?" He asked, the boy shakily nodding.

"Do you know what's going on?" TFC asked another question, with the boy shaking his head.

"It's alright, kid. You're going to be staying here for a little bit, and everyone here only wants to help you." Tin told the young child, who looked into the scientist's eyes, meeting his stare with tear-filled eyes.

"I-Is my mwommy coming bwack?" The child asked as TFC slightly flinched from the question, the male looking to the ground to try and avoid the child's sad stare.

"I..I'm not sure kiddo. But you're going to be safer here. No one will be able to hurt you."

"Mwommy says I hurt pweople.." he said with a sad voice, the young child holding back his tears.

"It's alright kiddo. You won't hurt anyone."

—

"STATIC!"

"STATIC OPEN THE DOOR."

The villain snapped out of his dreaming state, gasping for breath as he sat up at the desk in his lab. He looked around, adjusting to his setting. It was only a dream, nothing more. He let out a sigh of relief, relaxing his shoulders and leaning back in his chair before grabbing his helmet that he had left sitting on his desk. He placed the helmet on, moving swiftly to the door and opening it to reveal Cub and Doc.

"What the hell are you two doing? What's going on?" Static asked with a rough voice, looking at the terrified expressions of the two villains. They tried to explain what was happening, but their frantic voices overlapped and Static couldn't understand a word they were saying. It wasn't until the sound of shattering glass and painful screams that Static realized what was happening.

"Finally!" He smiled, shoving past his fellow villains and running over to the broken cell. Screeching and growls came from the prison, Static stepping into the dimly lit room. He smiled at the monster, Xisuma cowering in the corner of the room.

He had clearly transformed, but it seemed like he wasn't fully gone yet. Xisuma's arms were seemingly transforming into bat like wings, a long tail with a spike at the end forming as well, it was similar to a scorpion's tail. His scleras were entirely black and his iris was a dark shade of glowing purple. It seemed Xisuma could no longer form words, the monster screeching and crying in pain as tears ran down his face.

"Now, now, Xisuma," Static said calmly, flexing his fingers as red sparks surrounded his hand. He snapped his fingers with a bolt of lightning jumping off his hand and electrocuting the beast, who let out a bloodcurdling screech in pain.

"Reinforce his containment. He's only going to get worse from here on out." Static commanded the nearby villains, who quickly ran off in separate directions to get to work. The leader of the villains let out a small breath, slightly looking back at the beast in pain.

"It'll be over soon, you won't feel a thing in a little bit. All you have to do is listen and everything will be alright." The villain said while turning away, heading back to his private lab without another word. He shut the door behind him, Static heading back to the darkness and mystery that hid in his laboratory.

—

"...A-a-and then they took Xisuma and just disappeared!" Grian explained with a shaky voice to the people gathered around him, Xisuma's friends who also lived in the apartment. There was Stress, Scar, Keralis, and Bdubs at the moment, but a few others had confirmed that they were on their way to Grian's apartment to figure out what had happened to X.

"It's alright, luv, you did your best." Stress comforted the anxious male, who couldn't help but feel responsible for Xisuma's disappearance. He could have tried to stop those strangers from taking X away and yet Grian did nothing but shake in fear.

"So Shishwami is..gone?" Keralis asked while looking to Bdubs, who shrugged hopelessly, which definitely did not comfort the friends of X. 

"He's not gone.. He's just been taken by some villains. It'll be okay, the police will get X out of there.." Scar reassured the group, although no one was comforted by his words. Xisuma was gone, and no one knew of his whereabouts.

“This is a disaster. Do you know which villains took him..?” Bdubs asked Grian, who slightly shrugged as he described the three villain’s appearances, the color from group members face slowly beginning to drain away.

“Those were villains who work for Static Charge..” Keralis said in a small whisper, Stress and Scar nodding in agreement.

“Who’s Static Charge?” Grian asked as the group looked at the male in the red sweater as if he was insane.

“He’s a villain that’s been terrorizing this city for a couple years. Not many have seen him, but he controls most of the villains in the city. Nobody knows where he came from or what he’s planning, he’s just a mystery.” Stress explained to Grian with a soft voice, Scar standing up and slightly pacing as he spoke.

“This isn’t the first time he’s taken someone captive. It’s happened before..”

“Well what happens to the people he kidnaps?” Grian asked, everyone going silent for a couple moments, before Scar eventually let out a sad breath, looking at Grian.

“We’re not entirely sure, everything about Static is mostly rumors. But he either kills them, or experiments on them. No one has seen the people he’s taken, ever again.”


	8. Confrontation.

Mumbo flicked the light to his apartment, letting his shoulders relax as a tired slight slipped from the engineer's lips. He had spent the last few nights away from his apartment and his friends who lived in the building after Mumbo had snuck out and away from Xisuma.

The mustached male was taking off his suit coat as he entered the kitchen, where the room was falling apart. A large hole was in the wall, with rubble and debris falling from the ceiling. The room was almost unrecognizable, most everything destroyed. Mumbo stood in dismay, his home broken and destroyed.

Mumbo ran out into the hallway and running towards Grian's apartment, the raven-haired male banging on the architect's door. Mumbo impatiently tapped his foot against the ground, watching as the doorknob twisted, Grian opening the door. His face lit up when he spotted Mumbo, the architect suddenly wrapping his arms around the taller male and hugging him.

"Gri-? What the hell is going on?!" Mumbo said with urgency, still confused about his destroyed apartment.

"Where were you, Mumbo?!" Grian said while pulling away, completely ignoring the engineer's question.

"I was away with work for a couple days! And when I come back, my apartment is completely destroyed!" Mumbo yelled frantically while Grian tried to remain calm, the shorter male still stressed about the kidnapping of Xisuma.

"It's..kind of a strange story.. Do you want to come inside and take a seat..?" Grian offered as Mumbo nodded, the two entering the architect's home and taking a seat on the couch. They sat across from one another, Grian looking down at his hands as he played with his thumbs, trying not to meet Mumbo's eyes.

"Alright..well, I came to visit you, but X answered the door instead. We were cleaning up your apartment when the wall exploded, which sent Xisuma flying across the room. There were these supervillain, or so I'm told, and they kidnapped X. We thought they took you too, Mumbo."

Mumbo sat quietly, processing the story for a couple moments while looking at his shoes. The story sounded outrageous, Grian was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened. The taller male leaned back on the couch, looking up from the ground and running his hand through his raven hair.

"Alright, so Xisuma is....gone..?" Mumbo questioned. Grian nodded.

"They just took him and disappeared.." Grian said quietly with his voice slightly breaking, the blonde male still blamed himself for X's kidnapping.

"We'll find him, Gri," Mumbo said firmly while spotting the guilt in Grian's eyes. He slightly nodded, clearly not as confident as the engineer.

"But what if we don't? What if Xisuma is.." Grian didn't want to finish the thought, Mumbo slightly biting his lip, nervous at the thought as well.

"I don't know, but he'll be back, one way or another." Mumbo assured Grian with confidence, although the taller male wasn't sure if it would all turn out alright.

  
  


"There's not much we can do, it's not like we can fight supervillains.." Grian said with sadness in his voice.

"I know.. We can only wait for the heroes to try and save him.." Mumbo said with a small voice, becoming more anxious as he continued to wonder if Xisuma was alright. He let out a breath, standing up.

"I should probably go, I don't want to overstay my welcome.." Mumbo chuckled hopelessly, trying to sound less worried than he actually was.

"Where are you going to live?" Grian asked the engineer, who scratched the back of their neck with a shrug.

"I'll pack some clothes and head to a hotel until my apartment is repaired. I'll be fine.." he chuckled with a wave goodbye to the architect, Mumbo turning away and exiting Grian's apartment. When he left, the blonde let out a heavy sigh, trying to reduce the stress that he felt.

Grian looked out his window at the dark city, frowning at the glowing lights. It made the architect angry that he couldn't do anything, that he had to wait for a superhero to rescue X. He hoped that wherever Xisuma was, that he was safe.

—

"Quit whining," a voice spat at the creature, slamming their fist against the glass to startle Xisuma. The beast had changed drastically, no longer resembling anything humanoid. With bat-like wings and a long tail with a stinger at the end, the creature didn't seem real. It was almost like a combination of a bat and dragon, purple scales all along the large creature's body.

Static looked in at the beast, which was hiding in the corner of the containment cell. His hand was placed against the glass, the villain's eyes glowing red from behind his helmet with an evil grin spreading across his face.

"Finally, that beast revealed it's true form.." the villain chuckled to himself. Static looked to Cub, Doc, and Cleo, the three standing in line while waiting for direction. Cub tried to hide the fear that he felt, while the other two villains seemed emotionless and empty.

"Phase one of project silver is almost complete. Soon enough we'll be able to move forward with our goals," he told the three villains while looking back at Xisuma, continuing to speak and instruct his team.

"The heroes may think that they outnumber us, but they're wrong. I've hired more help so that those _pesky_ superheroes will stay out of our way. In only a few days time, we'll be ready to move onto the second phase." He slightly looked back at the three.

"We're close to the end goal. We've almost harnessed Xisuma's strength, the heroes don't stand a chance against us. Soon we'll have an army, and everything will be fixed."

" _Fixed_?" Cub thought to himself. Static was vague, the vex unsure what he meant by 'fixed'. The more the vex tried to remember why he was helping Static who he used to be, the more questions came to Cub.

"You all are dismissed for the time being. I've got a few more things I need to finish." Static told the three villains, with a wave to dismiss them. The three left Static to his work, Cub trying to figure out more about himself. It was like he was missing apart of him, while everything else was blurry and confusing.

When the three villains had left the room filled with holding cells, Static moved away from Xisuma's cell, walking towards another and smiling at the prisoner. Joe's clothes and face was stained with blood, the psychologist frowning at the villain on the other side of the glass.

"What do you want from me." He asked coldly, Static simply laughing at the damaged figure, who flinched at the villain's laughter.

  
  


"I want power, the ability to fix the mess that HUMANITY made!" He screamed with rage, banging his fist against the glass and causing Joe to fall back in fear. The villain took in a breath before releasing a calm sigh, although Joe could see anger and rage in his glowing red eyes.

"I know who you are. I know your powers. And I plan on using you as a pawn in my scheme. You can join me willingly, or you can face the consequences." Static told Joe with a harsh tone, the psychologist shaking in horror.

"I-I don't have a-any powers.." Joe lied to Static, who once more slammed his fist against the glass, startling Joe once more.  
  


"You can't lie to me, Joe," Static chuckled at the bloodstained male. "You've tried so hard to hide apart of yourself, yet you can't hide forever. That demon of yours won't stay calm forever."

"H-how-"

"Just let them out. Make things easier for me."

Joe kept his distance from the glass, his legs to weak for him to stand. His back was pressed against the wall, Joe placing his hand on the ground and against the shadows on the floor. He suddenly panicked, trying to pull his hand away from the darkness which acted like tar, it wouldn't allow Joe to pull away from the dark.

The shadows swarmed around Joe's arm, the male fighting with all his strength against the darkness. The darkness of the cell began to grow, overtaking Joe's body. The male looked up with painful tears in his eyes, as the shadows overtook his face, the male placing his hands on his face and looking away away from Static.

Slowly, the male moved his hands away from his face, the creature looking down at their claw-like fingers. The cell was dark, Static could barely make out the figure in the back of the room. The villain slightly recoiled when glowing white eyes met his stare, the shadows on the walls moving.

  


"So, this is what you were hiding.." Static chuckled with a hint of nervousness in his laugh. A low growl came from the creature, which narrowed its eyes at the villain.

"Now, would you mind telling me what you are?" He asked the creature made entirely of shadows. It was hard to describe how the creature looked, the shadows that made up its body continually moved and changed.

" **I'm a demon.** " The creature growled in a dark voice, standing up at their full height. They were taller than Static, the shadows that made up their body increased their height.

"You're a separate being from Joe, correct? You have your own memories and personality." Static observed, the demon made of shadows nodding.

" **I'm in partial possession of Joe's mind and body. I feed off his fears, anxieties, and negative emotions."** The demon explained.

"And Joe is a Psychologist because he wants to understand what you are." Static finished the demon's thought, the creature of shadows nodding in agreement to the villain's words.

" **Correct. Now, what do you need from me? I understand that I'm in this cell for a reason."**

"I want you to join me. You're a creature of pure chaos and fear, you're a powerful demon. I want to fix our broken world, I want to correct humanity and the mistakes they've made. And I'll make everything perfect, by any means necessary."

" **And why would I want to join you?** " The demon questioned Static.

"Because I can offer you power and wealth. If you join me, I'll be one step closer to getting revenge on humanity. You must be angry as well, you've been locked away and forced to give Joe control." Static told the demon, who was interested in the villain's offer.

" **Alright. I'll do it.** " The demon nodded, Static’s grin growing. The villain pressed a button, the glass barrier that separated the two opening. The moment there was an opening, a long shadow shot out of the cell, wrapping around Static’s body and lifting him off the ground.

  
  


“ **You humans are too naive for your own good**.” The demon laughed while tightening their grip on the villain. Their arm was wrapped around Static’s body, although the creature was made of shadows, they seemed to be solid, allowing for the demon to attack.

Static cussed underneath his breath, red sparks flying off his body. A large wave of electricity shot off his body, the demon loosening their grip on the villain, which allowed Static to break free. The villain landed on the ground with ease, Static tightening his tie as he eyes narrowed at the demon.

“I tried playing nice,” the villain said, pulling out a small dagger. The silver blade began to turn a neon red, electricity shooting off the weapon. The shadows off the demon’s body shot towards Static, the male villain gripping tighter to his blade. The villain cut through the solid shadows with his electrical blade, moving swiftly and dodging the demon’s attacks with ease.

Static summoned a ball of red electricity in the palm of his gloved hand, blasting the crimson sparks at the floor by the feet of the demon. The creature of shadows fell back, their body slightly disintegrating from the light that the electricity had produced. The demon hissed in pain, fleeing back to the shadows in the containment cell.

Static pressed a button, the reinforced glass barrier trapping the demon in the cell once more. The villain chuckled, locking eyes with the demon.

  
  


“You’re pretty good at combat..” he chuckled, the demon slightly laughing in return.

“ **You’re not too bad yourself. You don’t seem like the worst person to team up with, either.”**

Static chuckled, waving goodbye to the demon and turning to their lab to leave. His smile was sinister, the villain locking the door as he looked around the lab.

Phase one was complete.

Now onto Phase two.


	9. Meetings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were a few changes made in the story (mainly Cleo’s villain name, changing from Slain to Ragdoll) as well as a change in my own name. I decided to change my name to my Wattpad username for less confusion. thank you for waiting for this chapter that should have been out a week ago, and enjoy.

"He beat us so easily.." Chamomile said as she wrapped a bandage around Cryoglare's wounded arm. The icy hero groaned in anger as she mentioned it, pulling away from the heroine and beginning to pace back and forth and muttering underneath his breath.

"It doesn't make sense, it was like he wasn't even trying!" Cryoglare ranted aloud, his hand on his chin as he walked back and forth. It didn't make sense how someone could easily defeat four highly-trained superheroes, even if they were a supervillain.

"Still stressing yourself about that battle?" Jangler asked as he entered the room with Velocity. The icy hero let out an extended groan of annoyance, breaking a punching bag as he hit it in rage. Chamomile slightly nodded as she looked to Jangler, the jester placing his hand on Cryoglare's shoulder to try and help ease his nerves.

"You don't have to keep stressing yourself. We were some of the first people to fight against Static, we didn't have any idea what he would be like." Jangler reassured his fellow hero, the male looking down at his newly bandaged hand and keeping his eyes locked on the specks of blood that stained the pure white cloth.

"Take a break, Glare. You're clearly pushing yourself with the training."

"Right. I can't do much if I'm hurt," Cryoglare agreed as he looked up at Jangler, slightly nodding at the leader. The colorful male smiled, looking to Velocity and Chamomile. "Where's Blaze and Obex? Let's just get this meeting started." 

"They're waiting in the meeting room for the rest of us." Chamomile said to Jangler, who nodded as he left the training room, the other heroes following him into the meeting room. Two heroes were waiting in the room, looking away from their conversation as the door opened and the rest of the heroes entered.

One was a blonde male with glowing red eyes, his costume like magma with a faint glow. It was like the tips of his golden blonde hair was on fire. The other was a male with brown hair, his costume grey and yellow, with a mask that covered his mouth and nose. He had glowing yellow cuffs on his wrists, seeming to enhance his abilities.

"We had our first encounter with Static. Face to Face." Jangler explained with a tone of seriousness in his voice, the hero taking a seat at the head of the meeting table. The other heroes took their place around the table, looking to the leader of the group to continue the meeting.

"He's stronger than we originally realized. He was able to take on the four of us at once, and he didn't seem to have any difficulty doing so. All we know about him is that he's the leader of a large team of villains, he's able to manipulate electricity, and he's powerful." 

"Do we know who's on the team of villains?" The hero in yellow spoke up, Jangler nodding at Obex's question.

"We know a few so far. Nitro, who seems to be a cyborg able to manipulate explosions. Ragdoll, who can paralyze opponents by placing a hand on her target. And finally Vex, who has magical abilities that we aren't fully aware of. There's still more we need to learn about them, but I feel like Static has more help that we don't realize."

"So you're saying we're at a disadvantage-" Blaze spoke up before being interrupted by the meeting room door opening, a figure placing their arm on the doorway, gasping for air as they tried to catch their breath.

"Oh no.." Jangler mumbled underneath his breath as he held the bridge of his nose, instantly realizing the figure from his pink and yellow outfit.

"What are you doing here, 'Worm Man?'" Cryoglare asked the figure, the self-proclaimed hero adjusting his yellow mask as he tried to fix his appearance. 

"I'm....here....to help...!" He said between gasping for breath, the leader of the heroes looking to Obex and Blaze. The two looked between one another before standing up and walking over to the worm-themed hero, grabbing Worm man and dragging him out of the meeting room.

"Hey—! Let me go!" He said to the two heroes while thrashing to try and free himself. Obex and Blaze held onto Worm man, dragging him out of earshot of the other heroes before they let him go.

"Zed-"

"Worm man." He corrected Blaze with a smile, the two heroes looking at one another, then back at the wannabe. Blaze let a bothered sigh slip from between his lips as he placed a hand on the pink hero's shoulder.

"Zedaph, you can't just join the heroes. You have to become one first. And right now, we can't let you join us." Blaze explained as he watched the joy in Zedaph's eyes slowly fade, the short male biting his lip.

"Well you and Impulse are heroes! What do I have to do?" He said with sadness in his voice, the opposite of his normal cheery attitude.

"Blaze and I are heroes because we have powers and we're willing to risk our lives for the greater good. You don't have the abilities to join us, you'll only get hurt..." Obex entered the conversation, continuing to explain to Zedaph the dangers that becoming a hero can bring.

"I'm willing to take the risks! I want to help!"

"You'll get hurt, Zed! You're our roommate and our best friend. You don't have the ability to bend fire or to create force fields like us, so it's dangerous for you to fight supervillains that even we can't beat!" Blaze snapped at the short blonde, who slowly took off his yellow mask with sadness in his gaze.

"When we told you we were superheroes, we trusted you to keep that secret. But we can't have you rushing into danger without any training or protection. Maybe one day you can join us, but for now you need to go home and stay out of the dangerous work of a hero." Obex explained to Zedaph despite his doubt of Worm man ever becoming a hero.

Zedaph didn't say anything, feeling crushed and useless as he looked up at his friends. Obex pushed him out the door of the hero base that was hidden in an alleyway, the metal doors closing on Zedaph and locking him away from his friends.

"It seems like you're friends don't need you.." a cold voice called from behind Zedaph. The male quickly turned around as he heard the voice, his yellow cape hitting himself the face and causing him to tumble over while trying to pull the cape off his head.

Zedaph ripped the yellow fabric off his head as he could feel tears filling in his eyes, the male throwing his cape across the alleyway. The blonde glanced around the narrow lane for any signs of who the voice belonged too, watching as a male stepped out of the shadows while adjusting his tie. There was a helmet on his head to prevent Zedaph from seeing his face.

"W-who are you?" Zedaph asked as the man extended his hand, offering to help Zed to his feet. The male simply chuckled as he took the blonde's hand.

"My name is Static. I didn't expect to run into anyone while I was here." The villain said to Zedaph as he looked to the metal doors that led to the hero base.

"My name is Zedaph. What exactly are you doing here, Static?" The blonde asked the supervillain, he seemed to be oblivious to who Static truly was.

"I could ask you the same question, but it seems I already know the answer."

"You heard me with those heroes..?" Zedaph asked with a quiet voice, Static nodding with a spark in his eye.

"They didn't seem to appreciate you, Zedaph. Why is that?" 

"It's nothing, I-I just wanted to join them and they said I didn't have what it takes, that's all."

"Well you seem more then capable," Static mentioned as he placed a hand on Zedaph's shoulder. "They just don't see what you're capable of. They don't appreciate you."

"But they're my friends-"

"They looked to me like they were superheroes. So you wanted to be a hero like them?" Static asked as he interrupted Zedaph, waiting for the blonde to slowly nod.

"It's understandable why they don't appreciate you. Those so called 'heroes' claim that I'm a villain, and yet all I've done is tried to make the world a better place." The villain said while Zedaph stood confused, Static pulling away from the blonde and offering Zedaph his hand once more.

"Join me Zedaph. If your 'friends' say that you can't be powerful, prove them wrong. We'll fix the world and you can be a powerful hero that your friends will respect. They'll never call you weak again." Static offered as Zedaph glanced from the villain to the crumpled yellow cape laying on the ground. The blonde frowned before he looked back at Static, taking the villains hand.

"I want them to see I can be a hero, even if I don't have any powers."

"Don't worry Zedaph, you'll show them." He chuckled while leading the blonde out of the alleyway and into the darkness of the night.

—

"It's time we finalize the plan." Static took a seat at the front of the meeting room table, the large group of villains seated as they looked to the leader for instructions. Besides Ragdoll, Nitro, and Vex, there was Iskall, Ren, and two other unrecognizable figures that were seated.

"The heroes are unaware that we have a demon and a monster on our side. Xisuma and Joe will be utilized, and until the day arrives, they will be under maximum security."

"When is that day? Y'know, the day we attack?" Iskall questioned as they took a screwdriver to one of their arms, beginning to adjust the mechanics of his bionic arm. 

"That's classified information that I'll prefer to share when the time is right. You all have your secrets, and I have mine. That's how it has been, and that is how it will remain." He snapped at the Swedish sniper with a cold and robotic voice, Iskall rolling their eyes and turning their attention back to their robotic arm.

"I've hired most of you, some have joined willingly. We have similar goals, and I will help you accomplish what you need. But for now you all work for me, and you do not question my abilities. Do I make myself clear?" He waited for a majority of the group to nod before moving on.

"Good. You all have your assignments, now go off and do what I’ve instructed of you.” He commanded, the villains all running off to get to work. Static stood up and left the room, exiting the hidden base. He moved underneath the cover of darkness, climbing the rusting ladder of an old fire escape and making his way to the top of a builder.

A figure in white stood on the edge of the building, looking down at the bustling city. He didn’t look back as he heard footsteps approaching, Static keeping his distance with his back turned to the figure. The electrical villain took off his helmet, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one before placing it between his lips.

“You must be the one who called me.” The one in white said while scanning the streets, Static chuckling underneath his breath as he let out a puff of smoke.

“You’re correct. You got here quicker than I expected. So you’ve decided to take up my request?” Static asked the man in white.

“If anyone can hunt down Grian, it’s me. Do you want him dead or alive?”

“Alive. He knows things that I need. His recent arrival as thrown off my plan, but I have a use for him. You bring him back here and you’ll be rewarded.” Static told the male as he let out another puff of smoke, the man in white pulling out a blade.

“Alright Static. You have yourself a deal.” The male chuckled as he peered down at the city, smiling at the flashing lights.

“Good. I’ll be waiting.” He dropped the cigar as he put his helmet back on, walking away without looking back at the figure. The assassin chuckled, his eyes hadn’t moved from the glowing city. He tightened his grip on his blade, standing up straight with a sinister grin spreading across his face.

“It will be a sweet reunion, Grian. I’ll see you soon.”


	10. Control

“Zedaph, we’re back!” Tango called from the entrance of his apartment, the blonde kicking his worn-down sneakers off his feet as he dropped his carelessly backpack by the front door, his roommate tripping over the bag as he followed Tango into their shared apartment. Impulse managed to steady himself before he fell over, letting a chuckle of relief off his chest. He kicked his shoes off and left them by the front door, the male carrying his heavy yellow backpack into his bedroom and dropping it on his desk.

  
  


“Zed? You here?” Impulse called as he left his bedroom, Tango stepping out of Zedaph’s room and shaking his head. The brown-haired male scratched his head with a frown, confused on where the third of their trio could be.

“I haven’t seen Zedaph since we saw him at the hero HQ.” Tango said with a hint of worry in his voice, he and Impulse taking a seat on the sofa in the living room of their apartment. Impulse pulled out his cellphone, dialing their roommate, which instantly went to voicemail. He frowned as worry began filling his mind, Impulse instantly assuming the worst had happened.

  
  


“I know it’s been a couple days, but we’ve only been home a few times, and we’ve been spending the rest of our time at the HeroHQ training and working on trying to locate the villains. He may just be at work, and he’ll come around soon enough. He’ll move on from wanting to join the heroes and Zed will be back before we know it!” Tango reassured, his logic made sense, he and Impulse had barely spent any time at home, but every time they came back to the apartment, Zedaph was nowhere to be found. It was unsettling to never see the male around.

At the same moment, Impulse and Tango’s phones buzzed with an alert. The two grabbed their devices and looked down at the message they had just received. “Looks like we won’t have any time to stick around and wait for Zed,” Impulse said with a frown upon reading the message. “Jangler is calling for all the heroes, it looks important.”

“Well let’s hurry then!” Tango said as he ran to the door, easily slipping on the old sneakers on his feet, picking up his backpack and running out the door. Impulse hurried to grab his own bag, almost forgetting to put on his shoes before rushing out the door.

—

  
  
  
  


“Thanks for coming,” Jangler greeted Obex and Blaze, the two out of breath from running across the city to make their way to the HeroHQ. The two dropped their backpacks by the front door as they joined Jangler into the meeting room, the other heroes waiting in their seats. Obex and Blaze took their seats, and the meeting began.

  
  
  
  
  


“I’m sorry to call you here so suddenly, but we have an emergency.” Jangler said as he took his place at the head of the table, the heroes murmuring to one another in speculation of what the problem could be.

  
  


“An alarm was just tripped in a high-tech laboratory, which has information and blueprints for dangerous creations and weapons that should be locked away. The power was cut, but the security cameras managed to catch this-“ Jangler pointed a small remote towards a large screen as he hit a button on the device. Footage of the lab appeared on the screen, three figures running into frame. They were far from the cameras, so it was hard to make out their faces, but one pointed to the camera, while the other threw a small blade at the recording device, and the footage cut out.

“One of them looked like Vex.” Cryoglare pointed out as the footage ended, Jangler nodding as he set the remote down, looking towards the team of heroes with a frown.

“Exactly. Which is why Obex, Cryoglare, and Chamomile will go and search the lab. Blaze and Velocity, you two are going to search the rest of the city in case this is a diversion.” Jangler instructed as the heroes all nodded in understanding. Velocity put his large goggles over his eyes, running out of the room with the use of his superspeed. Blaze ran after him while Cyoglare and Obex rushed off to the lab. Chamomile hung back for a few moments, looking towards Jangler with a look of confusion across her face.

“What about you, luv?” She asked, Jangler pulling a photo out of his pocket and handing it to Chamomile. She frowned at the photo, confused at what the male in the picture could mean.

“That person is named Grian. He witnessed Static’s team kidnapping someone by the name of Xisuma. If Static finds out about that, Grian could be in danger of being taken as well. I’m going to make sure he’s alright before taking him to a safe room, until we’re sure he’s safe.” Jangler explained to the brunette, who nodded in understanding.

  
  


“Good luck.” She said with a wave goodbye, running off to find the other heroes. Jangler nodded as she left, looking back at the photo of Grian.

  
  
  
  
  


The hero hoped that he wasn’t too late.

—

  
  


“Finally," the male chuckled as he finished the final adjustments to what seemed to be a mechanical collar which had two small vials attached to it, filled with a glowing serum of sorts. He set down the screwdriver that he had been using on the device, letting a relieved sigh slip out from between his lips. The figure took a handkerchief from out of his pocket, gently dabbing it against his forehead to collect the small beads of sweat that had formed while he worked so diligently. "It's finished."

  
  


He said the words with a tired laugh, his body was fatigued with exhaustion and famine, he had spent more time working on his devices and tools rather than taking care of himself, as if he was lost in his work. The male lifted a mechanical helmet off his desk, adjusting the protective gear so that he could see out of the tinted visor that prevented anyone from seeing his identity.

The male looked towards the exit of his lab as he heard a gentle knock on the door, attempting to quickly fix the sloppily-made tie that he wore, to no avail, which caused the man to give up trying and let the crimson tie rest around his neck, untied and loosened as he moved to answer the door. Cub stood waiting nervously by the entrance to Static's lab with his eyes glued to the ground which was dirtied with old blood, most likely from one of Static's strange experiments. He looked up at the sound of the heavy metal door sliding open, the villain leader standing in the doorway with an unamused glare, his eyes glowing a faint crimson red.

  
  
  
  


"What is it this time, Cub?" He snapped impatiently at the nervous male, Static narrowing his cold eyes as he studied Cub's deteriorated appearance. His clothes and lab coat were torn by what seemed to be large claw by some sort of creature of sorts, Cub's cheek had also been attacked which caused the faint ooze of blood to begin to form and roll down his face. By the looks of his fresh scratch marks and wounds, he was attacked recently, Cub wiping the blood from his cheek and staining the sleeve of his white lab coat.

"E-everything is ready for you, sir." He said with a wince as he examined the bloodstained shredded cloth that had been torn by a monstrous creature. A large grin appeared on Static's face at the words, although Cub couldn't see his expression from his tinted visor, that always seemed to scare the male. He never knew what the villain was thinking or feeling, making him unpredictable and erratic, which always made Cub tread lightly on what he did and said, constantly unsure how Static was feeling or acting.

  
  


"Perfect!" He said while running back into the laboratory, picking up the mechanical collar that he had been working on moments earlier. Static ensured that the tubes of blue serum were undamaged and protected before he left the lab with the large collar in his hands. Doc and Cleo were facing one of the cells in the long hallway with weapons in hand and expressions of anger and stress across their face. Static snapped his gloved fingers together as he approached, the two villains suddenly freezing before stepping out of the way of the open cell. The electrical villain laughed underneath his breath as he approached the cell, his hands gripping tight to the custom-created collar.

"Why hello again, Xisuma. Are you ready to help me yet?" He said with a taunting tone, Static unfazed as he stared fearlessly at the bloodthirsty monster, which let out a low growl as the villain entered the cell. The monstrous version of Xisuma had a steel muzzle wrapped around his mouth to prevent the creature from biting anyone with his sharpened fangs. X flapped his bat-like wings hopelessly, trying to fly and escape the clutches of the villain that had locked him away, but the small prison wasn't large enough for the creature to fly. Static chuckled at the monster's aimless attempts at escaping.

"I don't have time for games, Xisuma. You're a key part in my plan for domination, so let's get this over with." Static said gruffly as he stepped forward with the collar in his hands, the creature hissing and growling to try and scare off the villain. The male stepped closer, and Xisuma stuck with an attack. His scorpion-like tail swung at Static as he continued to try and fly, the point of his tail swiping through Static's arm and cutting through his skin. The villain cussed as he gripped the now-bleeding cut, mumbling curse after curse at the excruciating pain he felt from Xisuma's venom from the tip of his tail.

  
  


"Static are you-" Doc started to question while taking a step forward, although he froze when the villain looked back with narrowing eyes, physically instructing the cyborg to pause before he got too close. He was heavily breathing and gripping the gory wound, the red of blood staining Static's white shirt and the palm of his hand. He chuckled while tightening his hold on the wound, miniature crimson bolts of electricity shooting off his body. " _ Idiotic creature. _ " Static scoffing with his cold eyes locking on the monster, Xisuma growling in response to his words.

"You're going to listen to me whether you like it or not." He snapped with rage as he shakily stepped forward, Xisuma's venom already beginning to take a toll on Static's strength and power, but the male forced himself to fight through the pain. "You brought this upon yourself.." Static said as he placed the collar that he held on the bloodstained floor, raising both his arms as he pointed the palms of his hands towards the creature, bolts of crimson lightning discharging from his hands at the villain's command, electrocuting the creature with his power.

Xisuma cried out in pain as the red electricity stung his body mercilessly, before the monster's body gave up, X falling to the ground with his consciousness beginning to slip away. The creature weakly shut his eyes, his chest slowly rising and falling as he slept peacefully. Static's breathing was heavy and shaky, he was struggling to breathe after using most of his energy to disable Xisuma. He placed a hand on the wall for support, the villain trying to steady his racing heart and heavy breathing. Cleo and Doc quickly rushed to his side to try and help Static, but Cub was more hesitant to assist, beginning to question why the two villains that he worked with were so loyal and eager to help Static.

"I-I'm fine." Static managed to choke out sternly as Cleo and Doc helped the male steady himself, although the villain's bloody wound and shaking legs said otherwise. The cyborg bent down and lifted up the mechanical neckband that Static had constructed, handing the villain's invention back to the creator, who let out a weary breath as noticed the device was unharmed. "You two can go." He said as he stepped forward, Static moving slowly as he approached the sleeping beast. He knelt beside Xisuma's sleeping body, Static putting the collar around the beast's neck and adjusting the device.

"What is that thing, Static?" Cub said as he stepped forward, staring deeply into the light blue serum in the two vials, he felt like he had seen the strange substance before. The villain chuckled as he got to his feet, his back against the wall for support as he stuck his hand into his pocket, Static pulling out a small remote with a button on the device.

"This is something that I've spent years trying to perfect.. I've only tested it on mice, but it's worked flawlessly. The mice turned feral, but they obeyed my every command. They even killed their own kind with no mercy or hesitation because I commanded them to do so. If I can use the same serum on Xisuma and control him as this beast, I'll be unstoppable." He chuckled carelessly despite the fear in Cub's eyes, the villain looking down at the miniature remote in his hand with a grin. Static clicked a button on the device, glancing up at the monster.

The two vials stabbed into Xisuma's neck, his eyes suddenly opening from the shock of the vials stabbing into his neck. The beast cried out in pain, shaking his head as an empty light blue began to overtake Xisuma's eyes. The purple scales on his body started to shift in hue, turning to a silver white. The shift in color overtook X's body, the monster falling to the ground as exhaustion overtook his entire body. "Good boy," Static chuckled as placed his hand on Xisuma's head, petting the monster with a grin across his face. "Now, let's see how you react."

He snapped his fingers together, Xisuma's eyes opening with a feral yet empty look in the creature's glare. X slowly sat upright and looked down at Static, tilting his head as he studied the villain with a cold and emotionless stare. He looked sad and soulless, the beast fully underneath the villain's complete control. Xisuma bent down to become eye-level with Static, a soft growl coming from the creature to show a sign of trust between the two. "Now, that's  _ much _ better." Static said as he stroked the now-tame monster's head, X relaxing with a slight purr. The villain looked towards his henchmen with a large grin across his face, Cleo and Doc mimicking his evil smile, despite not being able to see Static's expression. Cub was being more careful, frowning at the brainwashed creature.

  
  


"So we're just going to use Xisuma to take over the world?" Cub asked with a cold voice as he looked from Static to X, he couldn't stop himself from feeling guilty, the beast used to be a human, he used to be free and happy, and now he was going to be weaponized for destruction. The villain shook his head, walking over to Cub and placing his hand on the male's shoulder, slightly chuckling underneath his breath before he spoke, as if he was amused by Cub's worried expression and questions. "Of course not," he laughed to himself before suddenly Static's laughter turning into a sick and weakly coughing fit, the villain stepping away from Cub while holding the large cut across his arm in pain.

Doc and Cleo caught the male before he collapsed to the ground while sharing a concerned expression with one another. They helped Static steady himself once more, the villain taking in a pained yet sharp breath as he tried to stop the room from spinning. He placed a hand over his visor while mumbling quietly to himself, Static pulling away from his henchmen as he walked unsteadily back towards his lab, covered in blood and drained of energy. "Are you going to be okay, sir?" Cleo asked as Static reached the door, the villain pausing for another moment to refocus himself before he collapsed once more. He nodded once as he placed a hand on the door to his lab, looking down at his bloodstained appearance.

"I'm alright... I just need to rest before getting back to work." He said with a mumble, sounding like he could pass out in a short moment.

"Maybe you should go home," Doc suggested as he typed a code into a small control pad in the wall next to Xisuma's cell, the beast waiting patiently for a command with unblinking eyes, the reinforced glass barrier closing and locking X in his prison. Once the creature was secured in his cell, the cyborg stepped towards Static and placed his hand on the villain's shoulder, which caused Static to wince in pain, the venom from Xisuma's tail hurting more than the villain originally realized. Doc spoke up again as he noticed the pain that the electrifying villain was enduring. "You're not in any condition to work."

  
  


"Well I don't have a choice, my plan is beginning to fall apart from these heroes that keep trying to stop me. We're running out of time before we start the next phase of my plan, so I need to find a way to get these heroes out of my way before they delay my progress." Static explained as he opened the metal door, taking a step into his laboratory while letting go of his injured arm, the male glancing down at his gloved hand that had been holding the cut, which was now completely stained in red.

  
  


"I need to work in silence. You three are dismissed until further instructions. Make yourself useful and gather more information on the heroes and those who are trying to stop me from succeeding." He instructed while the metal door to his laboratory slammed shut, Static disappearing into his work. The villain carelessly ripped off his helmet and discarded it onto the floor as he walked over to his desk, opening one of the drawers and pulling out cloth bandages from a first aid kit. Static wrapped the strips of fabric around his wounds, sighing as he finished treating his wounds.

He took a seat while pinching the bridge of his nose with annoyance, relaxing in his office chair as the silence of everything seemed to further Static's exhaustion. The darkness was suffocating the villain's weary mind, the feeling of insomnia beginning to catch up with Static's weakened state, the idea of sleep lulling the exhausted male's mind into a quiet sense of peace. His eyelids were beginning to heavy as the villain could begin to feel himself dozing off, the soothing sounds of silence and nothingness was entrancing to him.

Static shook his head, looking down at the blueprints that littered his desk, the villain's blurry vision a result of his sleep deprivation. He took a blueprint and began to reread the design and structure of what seemed to be a small metal disk with a complex design. The male let out a sigh as he opened another drawer, pulling out one of the unfinished metal disks that he had been working on, as well as his tools, Static began to get to work on the small device.

**"What are you working on this time?"** A voice called from behind, Static's annoyed glare locked onto his device rather than the demon that stood behind him, the villain was too tired to talk or even acknowledge the creature of shadows. He focused on his work, Static beginning to modify the device while trying to ignore Joe's alter-ego that watched over his shoulder, curiosity in the demon's glowing white eyes. The villain groaned in annoyance as he tried to get the device to work, but his lack of sleep was ruining his chances of finishing his work.

  
  


Static pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat back in his chair, trying to clear his cluttered mind so he could focus on work, but the buzzing of a headache was preventing his thoughts from making sense, the villain standing up with an exasperated groan. "It's nothing you should be concerned about." Static said as he walked past the demon, bending down and lifting his helmet into his hands. He placed the mechanical headgear over his face, adjusting the helmet before turning and facing the demon.

"You keep escaping your cell, this is the third time I've found you outside of containment." Static said as he walked past the demon and took a seat in his chair, narrowing his eyes at the shadowy creature.

  
  


**"If you were locked in a cell while the light overhead burns your skin, wouldn't you want to escape?"** The demon snapped the question in response, Static bit his bottom lip at the demon's question, something clearly bothering the male. The villain shook his head before he spoke again.

"Well yes, but the last time I let you free, you tried to kill me. So why are you acting friendly now?" Static asked with suspension. From what the demon had said, he seemed to be weak against anything bright or lights, the villain leader making a mental note to use that against the creature of shadows if things go wrong.

  
  


**"I'm curious about you,"** the demon said as they tilted their head, their piercing white eyes locked onto the villain as they spoke.  **"Why are you a villain?"**

  
  


"I hate that term,  _ villain _ ." Static said as he sat back in his chair, the word left a sour feeling in his mouth and twisted his stomach. "I am anything  _ but _ a villain, my plans may put certain people at risk, but it doesn't matter. I'm doing what's best for the good of everyone and everything.”

  
  
  
  


**"So you think you're doing what's best for the world?"**

  
  


"I  _ know _ that I'm doing what's best for the world." He repeated with a cold tone, looking down at his blood-stained gloves with a stare of hatred and anger, the male speaking again as his eyes were glued to his bloody hands. "The real villains are the ones who cause contention and violence for their own gain. The people who only care about themselves and will stop at  _ nothing _ to destroy everything good."

**"Did something happen to make you feel this way?"** They asked, it made no sense to the demon why someone would feel like that. Static didn't respond to the demon, clenching his bloodstained fist as he let out a gruff sigh of annoyance.

  
"I'd rather not talk about it." He said as he shakily got to his feet, the villain walking to the door of his lab in an attempt to escape the conversation. " **So something** **_did_ ** **happen."** The demon suddenly spoke up which caused Static to freeze in place, slightly looking back at the shadowy creature that stood in the dark room. He cussed with a heavy sigh, turning back to face the demon.

"It's a story I prefer not to talk about," Static said with an empty and tired voice. "I'd rather move on and fix the mistakes that this error-filled society continues to make." The demon tried to speak once more, but the villain turned his back on the shadow creature, opening the heavy metal door while taking in a tired breath.  
  


"I'm going home now. I'll be back tomorrow once I've gotten some rest, so please, no more questions." He left without another word, Static leaving the demon in his darkened laboratory without a care. The shadowy creature looked to the villain's desk, spotting a picture frame on the edge of the table. They walked over to the photo, the demon curious as they lifted the frame in their hands, looking down at the young girl in the photo.

  
  


The photo was old, worn away as well, but the girl in the picture was easy to see. Her hair was medium length and slightly wavy, a darkened shade of brown that could be mistaken for an inky black. The demon was confused, they had never seen this person with Static before, so why did Static have a photo of her? They set down the photo, glancing back at the exit while narrowing their glowing eyes.

  
  


**"What are you hiding, Static?"**


	11. Trapped.

“Okay...Let’s try this one more time!” A figure in the shadows said with fleeting hope in their voice. They ran towards the metal door, ramming the side of their body against the metal door, in an attempt to break free from the small prison cell that they had been locked in. The door didn’t budge, it barely had a single scratch on it from the hundreds of attempts to break free from the prison. The figure stepped back with a frown as they noticed the failure of their efforts, sitting down in the corner of the darkened room. He took off the yellow mask that he had been wearing, looking down at the palm of his gloved hands to examine the superhero disguise that he had been wearing. The male frown, pulling his knees to his chest with a heavy sigh escaping from between his lips.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Alright Worm Man, let's try this again..” Zedaph spoke to himself after a moment of rest, the blonde getting to his feet while tying the yellow mask around his head. He took in a deep breath before running at the door as fast as he could, his side ramming against the metal door, the sound of the impact echoing through the small prison cell. There was nothing in the room besides the barrier that prevented the self-proclaimed hero from escaping, no windows or glass, which left Zedaph in total darkness. The Brit groaned with frustration, it felt like he had been hopelessly trying to escape for hours. “Stupid door..” He grumbled while brushing the dirt off his pink superhero attire, pacing back and forth in the small room while trying to think of a plan to escape. As Zedaph was lost in his own thoughts, the metal door slid open, causing the male to look up from the ground and towards the doorway.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“You pathetic annoyance,” Static grumbled as he stepped into the room, the metal door closing as he walked forward. He adjusted one of his metal gloves, the villain wearing dark grey and crimson robotic supersuit along with his normal helmet. The male moved his fingers, a fist opening and closing to adjust to the metal glove that he now wore. He stopped walking, barely paying attention to the trembling hero before him, Static’s eyes focused on his glove. A small button rested on the side of one of his fingers, allowing for his thumb to easily press it with no hassle. The villain smiled as his thumb pressed against the round switch, which caused a retractable blade to shoot out from his robotic suit, the sword-like blade attached to the end of his wrist, allowing Static to hold the pointed weapon right between Zedaph’s eyes. With one swift movement, the male swiped his blade, cutting through the yellow mask without harming the blonde haired Brit. “Now unless you’d like your head disconnected from your neck, I suggest you tell me everything you know about the heroes.”

  
  
  
  


Zedaph swallowed the lump in his throat, his knees buckling at the sight of the gleaming sword that was pointed at his neck. He weakly nodded at the villain while pulling at the collar of his shirt, the Brit felt like his shirt was strangling him. Static’s posture slightly relaxed as he pressed the miniature button once more, the blade withdrawing back into the mechanized suit. The villain glared at his prisoner, Zedaph’s legs shaking as he stepped backwards, only stopping as he hit the wall behind him. Static’s glare was locked onto the hero, who took in a deep breath before he began to speak in a shaking voice.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“M-my roommates are both superheroes, I f-found out about their identities and their secret base, but that's all, I swear!” Zedaph hopelessly lied with a nervous tone in his voice, the Brit biting the edge of his bottom lip after he spoke. Static narrowed his eyes, which began to glow with a crimson red color, his intense glare locked onto Zedaph. The Blonde-haired male wasn’t trying to hide his nervous demeanor, his fearful expression and terror-filled eyes said enough, Zedaph was only trying to hide the things he knew from the villain. Static scoffed underneath his breath as he turned his back on the male, adjusting his mechanical glove while stepping towards the exit of the prison cell.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“I have other ways to make you talk, Zedaph,” He spoke with a cold voice, although he seemed calm, as if he was expecting the Brit to only share vague details. The villain didn’t seem bothered or worried either, which made the knot in Zedaph’s stomach tie even tighter. He felt sick as Static’s laughter filled the room, the Blonde-haired Brit clenching his fists with a string or curses being muttered underneath his breath. He was trapped by a supervillain that could kill him with no trouble at all, with no superpowers or friends of his to help Zedaph flee from the impending doom that he was certain to experience. The Blonde-haired male felt sick as Static slowly looked back at him, Zedaph could tell he was smiling behind his helmet just by hearing the sound of the villain’s voice. “I can control you, I can make you fight against the people who you claim to be your friends, and I can use you to spread destruction. You are  _ nothing _ , but I can turn you into a powerful villain with powers unlike any seen before. Those heroes you claim are your ‘friends’ will _ die _ at your hands, Zedaph.”

  
  
  
  
  


“I won’t help you, and I won’t fight against my friends!” Zedaph snapped with fear in his voice, despite the blonde’s best efforts to try and sound confident. Static just chuckled as he stepped out of the room with a smile across his face as he spoke.

  
  
  
  
  


“We’ll see, Zedaph.

  
  
  
  


_ We’ll see. _ ”

  
  
  
  
  


The metal door slid shut as he left the room, the cold darkness a familiar feeling to Zedaph. He sat down in the corner of the cramped prison, bringing his knees to his chest while wiping the tears from his eyes onto the yellow gloves that he wore. He could die at any given moment, which terrified Zedaph. He was trapped in an inescapable prison with villains around every corner, and he could do nothing to try and free himself from the unending nightmare that he seemed to be living. 

  
  
  
  
  


\--

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**“Who was that?”** The demon that possessed Joe asked, following Static as he stepped out of the prison and began to walk through the hallway, heading towards his laboratory, where the villain had been locked away for the past few days, completely buried in the work that he was doing. The villain let a tired groan slip from between his lips as the demon questioned him, exhausted from the demon’s constant questioning.

  
  
  
  
  


“Why do you ask so many questions?” The villain snapped with an impatient tone as he entered the lab, the demon following Static as the door shut behind them

  
  
  
  
  


**“You confuse me. Joe has suppressed me time and time again, this is one of the few times I have full control over him. That’s why you confuse me; Joe has never revealed my identity to anyone, so how do you know about my existence?”** The demon narrowed their glowing white eyes at the villain who went quiet at the shadowy creature’s words. He sat down with a heavy sigh, Static looking away from the demon and towards the blueprints that were scattered across his table. The two were quiet for some time, Static fiddling with a small device that he was working on, while the demon waited patiently for an answer.

  
  
  
  
  


**“You don’t trust people easily, you’ve also been building up anger overtime. You’re hurt and seeking revenge for someone, am I wrong?”** They said all of a sudden, Static freezing at the demon’s description of him. The villain stood up from his chair, his fists clenched as he turned to the demon, red sparks flying off Static’s gloved hands. He stepped towards the demon with spontaneous flash anger overcoming the male.

  
  
  
  
  


“How..How did you know that!?” Static snapped with a harsh voice, raising his fists that illuminated with red electricity. The demon chuckled, stepping back to distance themself from the angered villain before they spoke once more.

  
  
  
  
  


**“I’m a demon that feeds off negative emotions and sorrow. You’ve been** **_radiating_ ** **with anger and pain since I first met you, which is what first sparked my interest in you. Not to mention the vengeful feelings that I sense, and that photo on your desk also seemed like you had a young child that’s now-...?”** The demon paused, waiting for an answer. Static lowered his fists, pausing for a moment as he thought to himself. He only scoffed, turning back to his desk and getting back to work on the small devices that he fiddled with. The villain kept his focus on his gloved hands that worked meticulously, his movements very careful as he worked on what seemed to be a small metal disk. He could feel the demon still watching him, the villain letting a gruff sigh slip from between his lips. Static set down the device, looking back at the glowing pair of eyes that were patiently watching him.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“If I tell you, will you stop bothering me with questions?” Static asked impatiently, the demon nodding once in response.

  
  
  


“And you’ll help me with my plans?” He asked with more intrigue in his voice. The demon nodded again as Static turned his back on the creature, lifting the device in his hands as he continued to work. The villain took a few moments to contemplate the decision, before he let out a heavy sigh, slightly nodding his head.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Alright, fine. I’ll tell you my story.” He said with a sigh, with his eyes glued to the device that he was mindlessly working on. Static didn’t look up from his work as he continued to speak. “That girl you saw in that photo wasn’t my daughter, she was a friend from my childhood. That was the only photograph I had of her before she-....” The villain stopped himself, clearing his throat before he spoke again.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“I guess I should go back to the beginning of my story..” He chuckled as he played with the device, while the demon only narrowed his eyes, they could sense the pain and sorrow that Static was feeling. It was clear he was uncomfortable talking about the topic, but the villain continued to speak. “I’ve had my electrical powers for as long as I can remember, and my mother gave me up to a government research facility when I couldn’t control my abilities. I was three years old, I barely even remember my own family.”

  
  
  
  


**“So you grew up in a government lab?”** The demon questioned, Static nodding slightly.

  
  
  
  
  


“Yeah. I was given the name “Project: Static Charge” and that's been my name for as long as I can remember. There was the name that my mother gave me, but only one person ever called me that.”

  
  
  
  


\--

  
  
  
  
  


_ “Hey kid,” A voice called from behind the metal door, the young child looking up from the array of colorful toys as he heard the door slide open. TFC was scribbling notes onto his clipboard as he stepped into the child’s room, the male pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose as he scanned over the pages of his written notes. The young boy weakly smiled, it had been three years since he had been left in the lab, the six-year-old child still terrified by the unknown faces and researchers that did daily tests on him. TFC was the only scientist that the boy trusted, but he was still scared of the man. _

  
  
  
  


_ “It’s alright, you don’t have any tests today..” TFC assured the boy when he saw the fear in the young child’s eyes, which caused the boy to let out a quiet sigh of relief. The test took hours, they always hurt too. They would shock the boy with electricity or they would make him use up all his energy while trying to control his abilities, the tests were excruciatingly painful at times.  _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “I’m just here to see how you’re doing.” _

  
  
  
  


_ “F-fine.” The boy managed to stutter out a weak response to the scientist. He didn’t feel fine, the child felt nervous and on-edge, like how he always felt when around the researchers. TFC frowned as he scribbled another note on his papers before he set down the clipboard, the older man taking a seat on the ground next to the young boy. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “Am I always going to stay locked up?” The young boy asked hopelessly, he’d been through more than any other child his age, TFC understood the fear that he felt. He wished that they wouldn’t experiment on the boy, that they would just let him be instead of harming the child, but they didn’t have much of a choice. If they could find the source of the young boy’s power, they could create superhumans, or even an infinite source of energy.  _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “We don’t know yet, kiddo. You’re still a total mystery to us.” TFC answered with a kind voice, but the boy looked back down at his colorful placement of blocks, a frown across the child’s face. He clearly didn’t like the answer. _

  
  
  
  


_ “I wanna go home..” He complained sadly while pulling his knees to his chest, his watering eyes locked onto the carpeted floor. That wasn’t going to happen, his mother had left the boy here, never to return. But the child didn’t know that, he barely understood why he was locked away from the rest of the world. _

  
  
  
  


_ “I know, but we’re trying our hardest to make sure you won’t hurt anyone with your powers, we can’t have you going home and hurting someone..” TFC said to the boy, who sadly nodded in response. The scientist stood up as he moved to the metal door, looking back at the child that sat on the floor, alone. He wished that he could do more for the boy, but there wasn’t much that TFC could do or say that would help. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “I have a niece around your age,” TFC spoke up after contemplating an idea for a few moments, the boy looking up at the male as he spoke. “She’s living with me, and maybe if you don’t have any tests, I can bring her by. Would that make you feel better?” _

  
  
  
  
  


_ He smiled when the child nodded, turning to the door. He left the room without another word. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ \-- _

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ “-b-b-b-but I don’t want to-”  _

  
  
  
  


_ “That’s enough!” The government agent snapped at the crying boy while tightening his grip on the child’s wrist, TFC standing a short distance away while watching the male pulling the boy towards a machine. The boy shook his head while sobbing, trying to pull away from the man. “You know we need to run these tests, now stop fighting me you little brat!” _ _  
  
_

  
  
  
  


_ “I-it hurts!” He cried hopelessly, another agent coming to help their coworker. The two pulled the boy onto a circular platform before they pressed a button, a glass tube trapping the child on the platform. He banged his arms against the glass while tears ran down his red cheeks, the room of government agents and scientists barely caring for the child’s pleas for help. TFC stood at the back of the room, his eyes glued to the floor, rather than staring at the sobbing boy. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “Start up the first test,” One voice said to another, the scientists standing at control panels while beginning to start up the machine that the boy was trapped in. Two holes opened in the floor below the boy, as a pair of long cords shot out from the ground. Attached to the end of the cables was a metal claw that latched onto the boy’s wrists, tugging him to the ground and onto his knees. The metal claws dug through his skin, continuing to tighten even as blood began to stain his wrists. He cried out, screaming for mercy as red electricity shot off his body, filling the room with a blinding red light that came from the child. The bolts of crimson energy shook the glass tube, but it couldn’t break the glass, the electricity continuing to shoot off the young boy’s body. _

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ The boy’s head slammed against the metal floor as he fell unconscious, the crimson electricity ceasing as the child became senseless. The claws around his wrists pulled away, blood from the wounds around his wrists beginning to form a pool of red on the metal flooring. The glass tube lifted up and two scientists began to wrap bandages around the wounds. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “He’s much stronger than the last time we tested this.” a voice chuckled from beside TFC, a tall man wearing a lab coat narrowing his eyes at the testing chamber with a sick smile across his face. TFC frowned, his stomach was twisting into knots. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “Come on, Doc. He’s just a kid and he just turned eight. We’ve been doing these tests for almost five years. Don’t you think a young kid like him shouldn’t be subject to these gruesome tests..?” TFC asked with his voice almost in a whisper, Doc only scoffed at the older male. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “This kid could be an unstoppable weapon, he could find a way to produce unlimited energy! We can’t stop until we know more.”  _

  
  
  
  


_ “This is going to scar the kid for life…” TFC mumbled in annoyance, Doc rolled his eyes. _

  
  
  
  


_ “You and I both know he’s not going to leave here for  _ _ years _ _. Even if we’re done researching him, his abilities are too powerful to let him go. He could be a super soldier if we train him right!” Doc said as set down his clipboard full of notes. As much as TFC hated to admit it, Doc was right. If he was this powerful as a child, he could be so much stronger as an adult. But almost every day with excruciating tests for years on end? That wouldn’t help the boy’s mental state. From the way that the boy had been acting lately, TFC could tell he was starting to become hateful of the people around him. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “He’ll be fine, TFC. He’ll get used to it eventually. We’ll do the rest of our tests for today, then you can bring your niece tomorrow. What’s her name, Vanny?” _ _  
  
_

  
  


_ “Vicky.” TFC corrected with an annoyed tone, Doc didn’t seem to care. _

  
  
  
  


_ “Yeah, yeah, whatever. The kid seems to like her, since he actually talks to her. Just bring her by tomorrow after testing so she can calm the kid down. With his abilities growing rapidly, we can’t have him fighting us. Soon he could be able to kill a person with his powers, meaning we need to control him before he can fight against us.” _

  
  
  
  
  


_ “You disgust me,” TFC spat as he turned away from Doc, walking out of the testing room with a heavy sigh. A young child shouldn’t be used like a lab rat, they shouldn’t be tested on and used as an experiment. It made him feel sick. He wished that he could have been assigned to another project, it's not like Tin chose to research a child for years. He was starting to regret becoming a government-employed scientist. _

  
  
  
  
  


_ He wished he could do more for the child, but it was out of his control. _


End file.
